I have long been intrigued by the
fact that so many religious traditions have believers who, like me, are a part
of that tradition because of powerful personal spiritual encounters.  Mine was a close encounter with a
Goddess at a Midsummer Sabbat many years ago.  Christians tell of their conversion experiences.  Practitioners of African diasporic
religions like Voudon and Santeria often find themselves unexpectedly ‘ridden’
by powerful spirit beings, ending forever any doubts as to their reality.  For many Indians, sweat lodges offer ways
of direct contact with the spirit world.
 

Spirit apparently does not pay a
lot of attention to theology.

I suspect that one of humankind’s
greatest achievements is the creation of ways to honor the divine.  Religions are our highest art
form.  Each generates its own
architecture, music, art, ways of getting into harmony with the sacred,
celebrations, and so on.  Each is a
joint creation of people and Spirit.

Because the sacred is everywhere,
any starting point, pursued with the right frame of mind, could develop into a
religion.  Any step can start the
dance.  I think this is why
historically religions do not tend towards a common mountain-top by different
paths, as we are often told, but rather extend outwards from a common
center. 

Those who see us as all eventually re-uniting
in The One or the NonDual simply constitute one more step in this sacred dance,
one more way of honoring the Sacred. 
And even among them, in time the dancers will divide, perfecting new
steps hitherto unexplored.