For many years now I have have been struggling with my "label". What am I? What word or words define my set of beliefs? For a long time I've been content to stay away from labels as I believed them to be to readily "closed". Not closed-minded, but as soon as you label yourself with something you also paint a picture in the mind of others as to what that means.For example, if I were to say I were a Christian each of us would immediately have an impression as to what "I am", fairly or unfairly depending on your perception. If I state that I do not have a label of my beliefs, this would also provide an impression of what "I am" But now, I feel that a closed label would not inappropriate as long as the underlying beliefs are open. I've come up with a term I like, though I'm not sure if my defintion jives with traditional defintions.
Gnostic Deism is something that seems suitable. Gnostic is used to explain my undersanding that every religious text and spiritual teaching is more than the literal explanation, and that these works and traditions were/are intended to teach us something deeper about ourselves as people, as about ourselves individually. Gnosis in my view, is the "search" for an experiential knowledge of truth, which requires study, meditation, and calm. Deism is used to explain my understanding of the universe. Pantheism could apply as well, but looking at the two models there is a grey line that I skip over constantly. In Deism, you revere the tangible and the empiracle, but you also pay attention to the intangible and intuition and feeling...to a point. In fact, Deism for me is the belief that you must strive for a balance between reason and spirituality in yourself, less you be dominated by one over the other. I like Gnostic Deism for now. Next week we'll see if I feel the same...
