Is Televised Self-Help Taking the Place of Religion?By Lisa Earle McLeodEDITOR’S NOTE — The Post is excited to bring you “Forget Perfect™,” a weekly column by nationally recognized speaker and author Lisa Earle McLeod. McLeod, a Snellville resident, has been a regular columnist for Lifetime magazine and featured in Glamour, Real Simple and The New York Times. Her columns appear in Saturday’s Lifestyle section. I think God is a large black woman and she sent Oprah down to spread the love. The last guy she sent wasn’t too media savvy despite his recent starring role in Mel Gibson’s “The Passion of the Christ.” So God decided this time she would send us a sound bite specialist, a master marketer to help us shape up. Truth be told, very few of us are actually living up to our true spiritual or emotional potential. In fact, most of us are wandering around so disconnected from our own souls, we’ve forgotten how wonderful we actually are. When the Oprahs and the Dr. Phils of the world give us a new insight, they’re simply tapping into the universal truths our spirit already knows. They’re creating an emotional connection and helping us look at our lives with new clarity. But is televised self-help taking the place of religion? It very likely might, if churches can’t stay true to the missions they were founded on. People turn to self-help, meditation, religion and even drugs for the very same reason: We have a hole in our hearts and we want some help in filling it. New religions or churches begin when people become tired of the oppressive restrictive forces of the current infrastructure and start rumbling for something new. The serfs of Rome risked death following a long-haired anti-establishment guy named Jesus, just as the colonists rebelled against the king of merry England to seek religious freedom in America. Historically, nobody hangs around long when their church offers no emotional connection. Have you ever seen someone who truly embraces their faith with all their heart? They shine. But going through the motions of religion with your head never creates that inner glow. As human beings we crave rituals and even rules. Meaningful ceremonies and established codes of conduct can free our minds from the mundane and help us expand our understanding of the universe. And religion can provide us with a structure to deepen our personal connection with the divine. Yet many have turned away from organized religion. They find it to be boring, meaningless and an unenlightened perspective on the world. But is it religion that causes us to disconnect? Or is it the people running it? We’re drawn to leaders who accept us as we are, and who give us the opportunity to grow into who we want to be. But we can’t grow by blindly following rules created by someone else. We have to examine things with our own minds and make decisions based on our own inner compass before we can accept who put the compass there in the first place. Religions that start with the rules and offer no room for free will do not serve as vehicles for spiritual growth. We know in our hearts that we were meant to live in love, not fear. And we have an inner longing to comprehend our role in the universe at large. True messengers of God understand the fine art of providing group spiritual direction while at the same time encouraging personal self-discovery. Whether in the pulpit or on TV, they come to us in the time and places we need them most. Their words and deeds may not be perfect, but their wisdom prompts us question the status quo. They help us move beyond the crazy restrictive ideas we humans get into our heads by tapping into the emotions lying dormant in our souls. God wants nothing more for us than what we secretly desire for ourselves — a life of meaning and love. So she sent down one of her best girlfriends to support the effort. Lisa Earle McLeod is a syndicated columnist, a nationally recognized speaker and the author of “Forget Perfect™: Finding Joy, Meaning, and Satisfaction in the Life You’ve Already Got and the YOU You Already Are.” (Penguin/Putnam) She has been featured in Real Simple, Essence, and The New York Times and seen on Good Morning America, Lifetime and FOX. Contact Lisa at www.ForgetPerfect.com. Editors: If you’d like to run Forget Perfect™ in your paper contact Lisa@ForgetPerfect.com. Column must include byline and photo. 
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