Popular religion and the Wizard of Oz

Thanks to its yearly rebroadcast, the film, The Wizard of Oz, is familiar to generations of TV viewers.  Its popularity may also stem from the message it conveys.  The heroine is lost and afraid and is told that all her questions can be answered by the wonderful wizard.  She must "follow the yellow brick road" facing trials and dangers to reach this wizard and his wisdom, and she must persevere if she wants to get back to her home.  When she finally reaches the wizard's castle, rather than provide her with what she needs, he sends her forth on yet another seemingly impossible quest.  Viewers, as well as the heroine, Dorothy, pretty soon clearly see that the wizard is really only a charlatan.  The one piece of truth he has is that the salvation she seeks is within her grasp all the time.  She has only to think about her home, and she is transported back there.
Too often, the dictates of popular religion are like this movie.  We are told that if we do certain things, we will find our heavenly home. We are constantly advised that we must follow all sorts of twisted paths and accomplish all sorts of miraculous feats to find what we seek.  And too often, even after we have faithfully followed these dictates, we find that we are still in the hellish world of mortality.  Such unfulfilling results "...try men's souls" and lead many to turn from religion as false.  Unfortunately, much that is associated with popular religious practice is just that - completely false.  In an age where science has revealed more and more material facts that seem to contradict popular religious teachings, many are driven to agnosticism or atheism, abandoning popular religion altogether.  Others turn to Eastern religions like Buddhism in hopes of finding some answers that make sense.
The real solution to this desperate need is to find "true religion" - the religion that Jesus would recognize and embrace.  And unlike the fake power of the wizard in our movie, that religion does not spring from a wizard or a religious potentate or even a local preacher.  As Jesus would say, true religion "...is within you."
So when we seek to find this vital Truth that will "...make us free," we need to turn away from religions which spout a worship of personalities outside our own souls.  We need to listen to what Jesus taught and try to follow his teachings rather than worship his personality or his bodily presence.  We need to look for the Truth of God within our hearts and our souls and cease to expect some modern-day wizard or preacher or guru to give us the answers we seek.  This inner search for the Truth is possible because the answers are already within our souls.  We know our connection to God and our place in his heavenly kingdom, now.  We know it beyond the cellular level; we know it in the very core of our being.  And when we are still and our mortal senses are silenced, we can hear the answers we need.  Jesus taught us that we should "...enter into our closet(s) and shut the door."  We must take him at his word.  We must stop trying to find a wizard to guide us and rely on the very voice of God.  We must have faith that Jesus told us the Truth - all that we need to find our heavenly home.  And as we patiently and prayerfully hold his words and his example in our thoughts, we will surely find that we are back in Kansas or wherever heaven happens to be for us.