Kristen Finlayson

When I was around 11 or so I was a pretty firm atheist despite attending Catholic school in grades 1-5.  One day my mom, does not typically engage in philosophical discussions, asked me very plainly, "Do you believe in reincarnation?" I said, "Of course." Considering I've had a very vivid past life memory of my death since before I could remember anything. Then my mom said even more plainly, "Then you can't be an atheist." "Why not?" I asked. She said that a higher power must govern the process of reincarnation. That that process could simply the the natural order of things. But no matter, it was a higher power. That may have been the only philosophical discussion we'd ever had but it was profound and seemingly Divinely guided.

Since that time I've obviously expanded my spiritual view. Just for purposes of disclosure, I hold my own spiritual believes separate from most religious doctrine but find validity in points made by various religions. But the central core of my beliefs rests in a view of spirituality that incorporates and explains the various beliefs of all the religions.

An image was once given to me of a huge stadium that was locked and physically inaccessible to everyone. In the center of this stadium was God. Although the stadium in inaccessible there is an unlimited number of keyholes completely surrounding the exterior walls of the stadium. Through these keyholes anyone can view a portion of God; however, depending on where you are outside the stadium that view is unique only to you or your section of the stadium. Therefore, all people of all religions are viewing God but a different aspect of Him. The greatest "key" in accessing the whole of God is learning the humility it takes to understand that your vantage point is limited and the acceptance of the "correctness" of another's perception of God. The difficult with this is when we feel that our view and opinion of God is the only view and the most correct view.