Hi...this has probably already been para=phrased but I simply would like to add my thoughts.. for me spirituality is a connection to god or the universe. And it is this connection or undrestanding that has created religion... religion is the organisation of that connection into rites and ceremonies by all the various cultures of the world. I have always been deeply spiritual..even as a child before I knew how to label it... now I can see that all the labels have some truth .... I have found a religion that works for me 100% ... and how lucky I am because now I can share with others... that is all religion is to my mind.... an attempt at sharing the experience of spirituality. In this day and age I feel lucky to have been allowed to choose my religion and I pray for those people around the world who are forced to follow a certain religion or not allowed to practise theirs......... How sad that with the single most beautiful thing in the world we have managed to pit man against man....

Love and light
EC xx

Julie, you are so right. No one can come between me and my Goddess. It is a personal relationship as with my God!

I was raised in a home where we went to Church every Sunday.  As I grew up I stopped going to Church every Sunday and only on Easter and Christmas do I go.  I still am a member of our church and work at the Anniversary Dinner every year and help when I can.  I have always felt that I can say my prayers and talk to (as I call him/her the big guy or girl) (I figure they have a sense of ha ha) any where I am out side in the fresh air or in side my home.  I raised my children the same way but tell them if they wish they my go to Church if that what they want.  They know I beleive in the afterlife, spirits and the like.  I have never kept from them that I see and hear spirits almost daily.  Or that I some times know things are going to happen before they do.  I have alway talked with them about the Bible and that I feel that it has been translated so many times that things get lost in translation.  And that I dont feel father/mother god is mean or spitful and that you should learn as much as you can it this life.  I hope that my children will make the world a better place for the next generation.  
I have many friends in many different Religions when we get together non of us shoves our beliefes on each other.  I fact I have had a few of my friend ask if they could borrow some of my books.  Next thing I know they are asking more and more questions about what I believe and my thoughts on (govermentized) religions.
I hope I have not offended any one. Thanks and Bless all

beautifully said kricket !! ....peace to you

Spirituality can be meaningful only when one knows his/her real self. Mortals are mostly governed by unconscious mind, by instincts and desires. Soul is befooled by such a mind to think that it is body or mind. It cannot be awakened by mere sermons, except in the case of a few rare persons, who simply need the blessings of a guru. Rest of the mankind needs strenuous efforts to loosen the bonds between Flesh and Spirit, which is almost unthinkable by the majority in a consumerist society. Codes of conduct and rites to awaken spirituality gave rise to religions, which were later degraded by lesser mortals. But it does not mean religion is unwanted. Society needs religion ; spirituality demands solitude.

-VJ