"Religion is ever and always rooted and grounded in personal experience" 102:8.7 (1128.3)
Religion isn’t a system you sign up for or a tradition you mimic. It’s not something handed down that becomes real just because it’s old, respected, or ritualized. True religion begins in the silent, sacred territory of personal experience—a place no one else can access for you. It grows in the soil of your own questions, prayers, choices, and encounters with the divine.
You can study theology, follow spiritual leaders, attend all the right services—and still miss the living experience of faith. Why? Because the essence of religion isn’t found in knowledge or compliance. It’s found in that quiet moment when something holy touches your life, and you know it. It’s in the fire that burns when truth resonates in your soul, even when no one else sees it.
This kind of religion transforms you—not with pressure, but with presence. It speaks through joy, struggle, surrender, and awe. And most importantly, it’s yours. Your relationship with God will never look exactly like anyone else’s. That’s not a flaw—it’s the point.
