The spiritual path

First published in Daily Tribune under Anthony Vivero's Vibes and Vision dated November 16, 2009.
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The road to spiritual growth does not just entail setting aside one hour of a day in each week for worship or spending two days of a week seeking spiritual enlightenment. It is grabbing every opportunity to feel the “spirit” — the core of enlightenment — every hour of the day.

This may sound controversial, but there is no need to have a church, temple, or even religion, as we know it, to lead us to the so-called “spirituality” — “for the true temple of spirit is the body of man itself.” All the churches and temples in the world have their good intentions and other motivating factors, but nothing comes close to a true spiritual path focused on our one and only Creator.

I am not against any religion or belief for I was born and baptized a Catholic and was taught the faith. In the process, I learned so many things that molded my views and aided me to go beyond the religion to seek God and understand His heart and “mind.”

The Creator is the source of all good things on earth — life, wealth, hope and mercy. Many beliefs will teach you of the eternal flame of hell or damnation, where one goes if he will not be a member of their faith. They tell you that all hope for salvation and oneness with God will be gone if you don’t enter their flock or congregation. Aside from that, man’s devotion and wealth must always be shared with the church instead of the other way around. There are, however, many religions and other types of persuasions that offer and teach a system of belief that is entirely different from what God is telling us.



The hypocrite

There is one man who serves the Church, doing the lay-ministerial job religiously, giving communion to the elderly and the sick in their homes. Afterwards he would seek the glorification for himself for all he has done, and do everything along these lines to gain the respect and admiration of the society to which he belongs. I feel that this is the height of hypocrisy, for true service to God does not seek anything material or personal in return, but is a result of an outpouring of love for God.

The “Lay Minister” as he calls himself, wants to get away from all his misdeeds and mistakes by using his position in Church, in all instances and at every opportunity as if to show one and all that he is covered by a certain kind of “religious immunity” from all wrongdoing, blessed as he is and allowed by heaven through the power bestowed upon him by his Church. It is a ploy to deceive people, like a wolf covered in sheep’s clothing.

I personally know one that is a real disgrace in our community. No one can blame those parishioners who eventually preferred to seek guidance from other sects, seeing as the Church produces lay ministers who think and act as if they are holier than the Church itself.

A Church worker must embody its teachings and seek not to glorify himself by proudly declaring his high position in Church to get his own way. It is a choice to have a religious responsibility and not a privilege to make oneself popular and special.

The worker

He is a typical member of our society. He works hard, has a family and his share of misdeeds and mistakes in life, which fortunately he always faces up to and never denies. But a major streak of luck or divine intervention, if you would call it that, suddenly gives him the sliver of opportunity to expand his work and find the true path to real spirituality.

To simplify the story, whatever he has, he shares with his fellowmen. Believing in the words of Christ, he does all these good deeds for others who do not know him personally and may never have the chance to know him at all. His purpose is not self-aggrandizement, but solely to help others.

He is not wealthy, but he manages to build a school or house for the poor in faraway communities by his own hand and using his own money. He is simply driven by spiritual consciousness.

The Worker believes that one doesn’t have to win lotto games, or be a politician to create projects for the community or for the less fortunate. All one needs is a heart that will respond to the needs of the needy and the faith that God will provide everything for that consciousness.

True enough, volunteers come to join the work. Materials come in and the project is accomplished in the fastest possible manner. It is the consciousness that moves all — it is “miracle at work” in our midst, in our modern time.

All the projects for the poor, uneducated, homeless and unemployed are accomplished without anyone knowing who he was. The people try to guess their benefactor’s identity, to no avail. Those who volunteer to work are advised to say this: “God heard your prayers and God instructed us to do this for you because He loves you. Keep on hoping, praying and believing. God listens… follow us, love your neighbor.”



Observation

The “hypocrite” still works alone to this day. He is a disgrace to the Church and the people in the community. Whatever he is doing is not known to the Church for he tells different stories. Unfortunately, many parishioners have stopped going to Church and many refuse communion because the hypocrite is performs the communion during mass. Many find him selfish and egoistic. His consciousness is of being “spiritually” self-centered, thus leaving him alone and lonely.

Meanwhile the Worker continues to have many volunteers spending their time and resources toward a consciousness that moves all. From one place to another, people would follow him to make themselves available to help other people. They have embedded in their hearts the belief: “We are alive not just for ourselves, not just for our family, but for those less fortunate brothers in our society.” It is also taught that it does not matter if they have or don’t have much materially, because as long as God is within them, then all the forces on earth will follow — the consciousness of the spirit that moves all things.

The Worker doesn’t create a religion, a formal group, or doctrine — what he has is his doctrine, the lessons of Christ.

Be a fisherman of Christ, not just in word, not just by example, but by sharing the love in his heart for God to man.



Any comment and suggestion can be forwarded to anthonyvivero@yahoo.com and anthonyvivero@hotmail.com.