What do you believe in - and why?

[AnyDream]

I started out vaguely Christian, remember going to Sunday School at ??? church as a small child (I think my parents stayed at home?)...but always had a yearning for the spiritual. My sister (who shares same yearning) and I both joined a Bible class at school when I was in grade 5 - moved away and then spent some time attending Church with the family of one of my sister's friends. Eventually was baptised & confirmed a Catholic...very devout...contemplated a vocation and even starting corresponding with an order of nuns when I was 16. However life took a different turn, I couldn't reconcile the Church's teachings on homosexuality with Jesus' message of compassion and felt excluded by the sexist language etc.

At that point I went my seperate way and began to construct my spiritual/religious belief based on my direct mystical experience & wide reading. There isn't any one word that describes my belief, I believe in a Creator/Source/Spirit which breathes life into everything, I believe we are all essentially spirit but incarnate into human form in order to learn and heal and evolve to become closer to this Source over a number of lifetimes. I have had a number of experiences which confirm my belief in reincarnation and the world of spirit helpers (angels, guides, whatever you want to call them) and I can also perceive energy/information when I am clear & focussed. But I don't hold much chop with what I call "new age fluff" which I think distracts a lot of people who are genuinely seeking to live a more authentic/spiritual life. I believe we all come into this world with a lesson to learn and a gift to share, by learning what we have to and sharing it, we allow the spark of divine consciousness within (ie the soul) to shine into the world and make it a better place for others.