Spirituality, Religion and Cotton
Posted: Thursday, March 22, 2007
by Mike Brandon
the megaphone
I grew up in a small rural area in North East Arkansas where the only things that seemed to grow were cotton and churches. Some seasons it seemed that no matter how hard you worked, (and there is nothing about cotton that is not work), Mother Nature just refused to smile on you and all your efforts would be rewarded with little more than a boll pulling crop.
Even at that young age I knew that 1/10 of nothing is still nothing. But maybe our preacher didn't have Miss Dixon for math so he didn't know about this "new math". I don't know. But to this day I am sure some of the "better off people" of that little community would add more money to the plate just so we could all go home. All in all I figured Mother Nature had made a choice between cotton and church and the church got the better end of the deal.
So what does cotton and church have to do with spirituality. And just what is spirituality anyway?
Well the way I see it, spirituality was born out of the cotton fields. Even as a kid I noticed that people would go to church more during times when cotton was having a bad year. I think they prayed for better times.( I was praying for apples, but that's a different story). I think in some way, people felt that a bad cotton crop was God's way of punishing them for not going to church more often. Yup, I figure that was the beginning of Spirituality as we know it today. People needed a way to accept the bad things that happen in life without accepting any of the responsibility, and also without having to pay the money associated with a yelling preacher.
See, spirituality is defined in many ways depending on who you talk to. Here are a couple of the quickies:
1) Religion is man made, Spirituality is God given.
2) Spirituality is an adventure to self.
3) Spirituality is an individual relationship with Creator while religion is a group of individuals trying to live by what the preacher is yelling about.
4) With spirituality if none of the above definitions fit, you can make up your own. WIth religion if you don't get it, you go to Hell. Pretty simple I guess.
Now while I am no expert in cotton, religion or spirituality I know that just like that preacher used people's fears to extort more money from them on Sundays, people today use spirituality as a way to do whatever they damn well please while accepting no responsibility for the consequences of their actions. I have seen men and women cheat on their spouses following their spiritual path. Ask how something like this could be justified in any sort of sacred ideology and they quickly reply, "I don't have the power to hurt anyone. If they get hurt it is because they choose to".
Spirituality also is great in that it lets each person do whatever they want whenever they want. So in spirituality you can wear many hats at the same time and not be a hypocrite. For instance you can be a preacher, simply by saying you are. You can be a saint no matter your actions or the harm they may cause simply because you are on your spiritual journey and any harmful results are mere "life lessons" to the greater understanding.
Spirituality and religion have their good points I am sure. And I am sure that the majority of people do not abuse either. However I think for us laypeople separating those with good intentions and who are honestly led by God, from those who read a couple chapters of "Conversations with God" but did not complete the book, is impossible.
So I reckon this new wave of spirituality is really some of those people who was in church back then on them Sundays when the cotton season was a bad one, when the preacher was yelling, and they noticed everyone was paying for both when they passed the plate around.
But now about that apple..........
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Top-level comments on this article: (5 total)Spirituality and Religion both have their place in the world as does atheism. At the end of the day being a good person has nothing to do with any of these things. There are many good people who have no religious or spritual instruction or guidance just as there are evil people within religion and spirituality. Look at all the paedophiles that work for the Christian church as an example. Religion is not a cure it seems for evil. I wish it were.Creative Fossil, Thanks for taking the time to comment. I am not sure what the answer is, but I think that maybe each of us has to find our own. Again, thank you very much for reading this. Mike
Good article. The reason we go to Curch is for praise and workship of God and fellowship for we all need each other to strengthen us in this evil world. Now since we are all sinners who are we to judge anyone? We do however judge deeds. That is what we recognize as wrong or sin. Now can good people fall? Certainly, but we are not to chastise but help. Now that 10% of time talent and treasure is that we are to give to the growth of the church and Gods works here on earth. To give is to give what you can in all or some. Now no church can deliver you only God and if he wants to. So walk in the spirit and not in this world which we are not of and you will have a relationship with Him who created all. God Bless. Good job.Robert, "We do however judge deeds". Very well stated. I have found it is one thing to be able to know something in your head, quite another to accept it in your heart and demonstrate this wisdom by living it on a daily basis. Thank you so much for your comment. Mike
Mike, This article cracked me up. Can anyone take their religion and spirtuality without being so heavy! This is an excellent article. Thank you for lightening up my day.James, I am very glad you enjoyed it. It was intended to be a light-hearted look at the how we often times try to use Spirituality or Religion as a tool to get what we want. Now about that Apple. I must have been about 5 at the time and I remember I had ask my mom that if I prayed really hard would God answer me. I guess she didn't know what to say so she told me that "Yes, God would answer if I was sincere". Well now we had this apple tree out in the back yard, and although the tree was only in bloom, I sure did want an apple that day. So I went outside and stood under the tree, closed my eyes, held my hand out "palm up" and prayed real hard that God would give me an apple. I didn't get an apple that day, and my confidence in the big guy was sure shaken but some thirty-five years or so later I was to finally get to a point where I could receive the lesson. I finally came to understand that over they years since that day I have had many apples. And that my hard prayed prayer that day was answered many times over, just not on my time. Course when your're around 5, all you really want was the apple. :) Thank you very much for taking the time to read and comment. Mike
I laughed out loud! I'm pretty sure I was at that same church when I was a kid, except it was a country church in Maryland. Thanks for the laugh & the great perspective in there with it - it the best kind of article.
There are those that have rationalized GOD out of their lives and opted for no GOD and profess to be enlightened by a "here and now" mentality. They have disregarded the Spiritual and Religious part of what BELIEVERS are all about and live like there is no HEREAFTER and snub those with a belief in the Abrahamic Religions objecting to the Scriptures and damning their beliefs. The BELIEVERS who have come to know GOD through the smallest amount of faith have GOD in their lives. Personally, I choose GOD and those with GOD in their lives to hang out with. GOD is here 24/7 and I can count on my friends that have GOD in their lives, too!
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