spirituality & religion

Well I wanted to share some of my point of view on spirituality and religion. I do not want to talk about if one is "better" or "worse" simply that they are different. Nor do I think religion is bad or good, it is simply previous people's method of trying to explain God and make it the truth to control other people. God, the force that created all of the universe, is infinite, limitless, complexingly simple, and truely can not be conceived of or explained by a finite mind (even this statement is a limitation that does not exist). So religions seem to be stories complied of actual event, astrological activities, and the imagination of the human mind to make an image of god and show some of his handy work in creating our world. This builds up an image of an exterior god who controls your present life with the threat of suffering/pain in an afterlife, while in reality it is this very thought that contributes to the misery many are feeling. An externalized perception of god also leaves many feeling detached from the world with the sense of wondering around in a realty that is not of their making or choosing. It is also unfortunate that many who are in the position to positively influence their followers choose to betray the very message they teach by morphing "God's Words" with their own meanings and feelings of greed, lust, and desire for power. Doesn't it seem obvious that preaching one thing and doing another leads to a vast distortion in the consciousness of anyone attempting to weave a life with a base on these kind of teachings? This is were I feel spirituality comes into the equation. God is not a creator that made us only to have us beg, suffer, and scream His name in a crude form of redemption for our tainted lives. Instead god can be seem as a force that created us in order to live through and with us. This is the difference between spirituality and religion in my opinion. Many religions say god is far away and you may never reach him. Spirituality is knowing god is always present and lives through you as well as everyone else. The spirit is one force in which we are all connected and spirituality is each individual journey to rediscover this personal connection to the spirit. God is the ultimate creator and in this we see that humans each harness this unique power that no other animal has. The ability to each create our own universe and reality. We are the creators. What one person thinks and believes becomes that person's reality. If enough people believe the same thing it creates a collective picture of reality that is seen as the truth, and it all starts with someone creating belief in the first place. Our creative ability is an example of the human-god link. So why give our power away? Why pray to someone else to take your message to god? Why continue to search the well worn paths for what we already harness? Everyone is in search for a treasure with a map from someone else and the whole time they are standing on the X. Anyway present organized religion seems to have missed the point or to have the agenda of intervening on peoples lives to "guide" thier life without the least bit of knowledge about you. It does not say be free and enjoy a responsible life with your fellow man but instead to fall in order with the guidelines that were created for you, by someone else, before you were born. A spiritual quest is to understand yourself and the collective by discovering deep personal truths and from this finding your harmony and balance. We all need to truly understand and unconditionally love ourselves so we can bring this love into physical manifestation to share with one another and with all life in the cosmos. So practice any religion you want just know that your description of god is for you only and you cannot force this description on anyone, as well as accepting how others describe god for themselves. But in your religious practices make sure you leave room for your personal spirituality. Discover what is right for you in your life and search for your balance in the manner you feel best.Do not give your creative power away by denying your spirit and will just to surrender to an external idea. This subject is so vast it is easy to continue writing and I do have more to say but I will end it with this: We each join to create the collective human experience but as part of that we are each an individual person. So we must consciously be aware of the life we create for ourselves. We must also know we are responsible for every part of our life and being, from every thought and action we each have, to how we interact with each other and the foundation we leave for future human life. Along with responsibility there must be acceptance because we are responsible for only our life (and our children's) and we must accept the choices others make without our judgments. Peace to everyone and I would be more then happy to read anyone's input.