Do not be afraid.

Working as a Chaplain I often saw up to 15-20 patients a day. Some of these visits were for five minutes some have lasted 12 hours.

I meet folks from all walks of life who are suffering from all forms of illness.

The single greatest sickness I encounter in people is soul sickness. This sickness is not a result of their “sin” but more a result of the “sin” of religion—spiritual abuse; the abuse that has caused people to believe that they are unloved and unworthy as human beings. The majority of my work was walking with people through their soul sickness; much of it stem from toxic religion.

Take any living creature and through your words and actions convince it that it is worthless. Teach it to fear you; teach it to fear its natural actions and watch the life leave it; watch it hover in the corner in fear or act starved for attention and love.

Go to any animal shelter on the planet and you will find animals that have been abused and treated as worthless. Go to any elementary school on the planet and who will find children who have been treated as worthless. Go to any office complex, any church and any prison and you will find people who have been convinced that they are worthless. They respond the same way an abused dog does: they’ll bite, hide in fear, or do anything for affection. The think they are unlovable so they act unlovable.

How many people who have been abused are convinced that they caused it or deserved it? It is extremely difficult to reverse those imbedded beliefs. The same is true with toxic religious beliefs. God lifts the hand of Love and some flinch in fear; it's a conditioned response.

I think too much of religion is based on the premise that we are bad sinners who deserve to be punished. It further scars our God-given identity. That is sin. We were created in the image of divine love and this love continually reaches toward us but our self-hatred continues to push away at love for we think we don't deserve that love.

It’s not Divine punishment that defeats the toxicity of sin; it’s Divine love that overcomes the damages of sin and brings new life. Huge difference. I think much of the talk in certain church circles about grace stems from a form of religion that has convinced folks that they are bad but God is good. No wonder many people in the church act like abused animals starved for affection—they have been.

The hand of Love that formed you is the hand that continues to reach out to you, not to slap you but to hold you. Rest in that Love. Trust. You are loved. Do not be afraid.