I remember attending a church service when I was visiting one of my devoutly Christian relatives, the minister talked about a young member of the congregation who had recently died at only five years old, and he had had cerebral palsy, and that God’s purpose for him was to make us feel grateful for what we had. I was sickened by the thought of a god that would cause a child pain and suffering just so I would appreciate I could walk.
I'm so with you on the crisis of faith as a thoughtful child. Raised Catholic, it took about five minutes in confirmation class for my critical thinking and constant queries to frustrate the nun teaching our class to the point of sending me to the priest. I then frustrated him. But what they had no appreciation for was how desperately I wanted them to give me some answer that made it all make sense. But it didn't, and the double speak and hypocrisy were more than my thirteen year old self could handle. I knew then that my answers would never come from a holy book or a church. I had to look elsewhere. From that point, I became spiritually curious and explored multiple faiths. In my experience, there's both truth and dogma in all of them.... it's the dogma, the soul slavery, that always rings false. So the best I can say in terms of definition, nearly thirty years later is that I'm a deeply spiritual person, a hungry soul with a body, I resonate with both Christ energy AND the Magdeline, (now that I understand what was done to her legacy). I appreciate Buddha, I resonate with the creation and destruction of Kali, I am inspired by the sovereign presence of Athena, the maternal fire of Hestia/Vesta, and my inner Wonder Woman is always ready for social justice. Since I was a child, I always knew that God wasn't a man father God who left us to grovel....but a God/dess Creator who is all around and throughout the world if we look...and more, if we feel. All things considered, I'm certain that in other historical periods they'd most likely burn me as a witch...but I stand at the corner of past lives in many spiritual traditions and I've spent the last decade remembering who I am from previous incarnations. So....like you, my spiritual journey has been an important part of answering the question "Who am I?" in the context of the world. Like you, whatever I am, I hope to be kind. I hope to be love, I hope to be growth, and I hope the world is made better because I'm here in service to the greater good. As I live in the world, that matters the most to the people around me.
Am I a perfect Catholic? Like you, with Buddhism, oh no. Having been born a Lutheran and choosing to convert to Catholicism later in life, after having a major crisis of faith (and life!), I still find God most present in nature. But there are times I find it in the church building, too. God is often encountered in unexpected places and people. “He” is definitely in the rainfall.
Another proof that you and I are kindred spirits, Tyler!
I will always remember the first time I recognized this feeling,….I was 16, living in Montana. I woke early on a Sunday morning due to the call of nature, on my way back to my bedroom walking through the living room with a huge picture window. As I walked only half awake across, I was jolted by a piercing stream of sunlight coming through the window. The sunrise had just broke over Kasanka peak and I was suddenly awake and riveted. I had seen nature in some of its finest forms but this just shook me. Suddenly the mountains were sacred and sunlight was the hand of the divine itself. Every since I have held that same Dalami Lama quote close to my heart. Even now, with religious beliefs very different I always feel a sense of sacredness and holiness in the communion with nature.
How can you not feel like you are in the presence of creation and spirit, standing in the natural places on this gorgeous planet, feeling its age and wisdom? I believe life is a search for balance, and nature is the best place for me to balance my spirit. Thank you Tyler, for once again so eloquently and beautifully expressing what so many of us feel. I am so very glad I stumbled across you all those years ago. Stay rad.
Ok I had to scroll back through the logs after hearing this one this morning because it reminded me of something I wrote many years ago that I thought rang true to your words as well:
I've always said that religions are like shoes; they come in all shapes, colours and sizes but at the end of the day, they all have the same purpose: Protecting our soles.
And even those that don't have shoes, well, their feet just adapt; their soles get harder and they are able to get by with no shoes at all because their own bodies have provided the same protection.
We always want to shoe the shoeless instead of appreciating just how strong their soles already are all on their own.
Maybe if we all just took off our shoes, we too could learn to strengthen our soles and walk that much closer to the earth.
I remember attending a church service when I was visiting one of my devoutly Christian relatives, the minister talked about a young member of the congregation who had recently died at only five years old, and he had had cerebral palsy, and that God’s purpose for him was to make us feel grateful for what we had. I was sickened by the thought of a god that would cause a child pain and suffering just so I would appreciate I could walk.
❤️🔥 Yes ❤️🔥
I'm so with you on the crisis of faith as a thoughtful child. Raised Catholic, it took about five minutes in confirmation class for my critical thinking and constant queries to frustrate the nun teaching our class to the point of sending me to the priest. I then frustrated him. But what they had no appreciation for was how desperately I wanted them to give me some answer that made it all make sense. But it didn't, and the double speak and hypocrisy were more than my thirteen year old self could handle. I knew then that my answers would never come from a holy book or a church. I had to look elsewhere. From that point, I became spiritually curious and explored multiple faiths. In my experience, there's both truth and dogma in all of them.... it's the dogma, the soul slavery, that always rings false. So the best I can say in terms of definition, nearly thirty years later is that I'm a deeply spiritual person, a hungry soul with a body, I resonate with both Christ energy AND the Magdeline, (now that I understand what was done to her legacy). I appreciate Buddha, I resonate with the creation and destruction of Kali, I am inspired by the sovereign presence of Athena, the maternal fire of Hestia/Vesta, and my inner Wonder Woman is always ready for social justice. Since I was a child, I always knew that God wasn't a man father God who left us to grovel....but a God/dess Creator who is all around and throughout the world if we look...and more, if we feel. All things considered, I'm certain that in other historical periods they'd most likely burn me as a witch...but I stand at the corner of past lives in many spiritual traditions and I've spent the last decade remembering who I am from previous incarnations. So....like you, my spiritual journey has been an important part of answering the question "Who am I?" in the context of the world. Like you, whatever I am, I hope to be kind. I hope to be love, I hope to be growth, and I hope the world is made better because I'm here in service to the greater good. As I live in the world, that matters the most to the people around me.
Am I a perfect Catholic? Like you, with Buddhism, oh no. Having been born a Lutheran and choosing to convert to Catholicism later in life, after having a major crisis of faith (and life!), I still find God most present in nature. But there are times I find it in the church building, too. God is often encountered in unexpected places and people. “He” is definitely in the rainfall.
Another proof that you and I are kindred spirits, Tyler!
I will always remember the first time I recognized this feeling,….I was 16, living in Montana. I woke early on a Sunday morning due to the call of nature, on my way back to my bedroom walking through the living room with a huge picture window. As I walked only half awake across, I was jolted by a piercing stream of sunlight coming through the window. The sunrise had just broke over Kasanka peak and I was suddenly awake and riveted. I had seen nature in some of its finest forms but this just shook me. Suddenly the mountains were sacred and sunlight was the hand of the divine itself. Every since I have held that same Dalami Lama quote close to my heart. Even now, with religious beliefs very different I always feel a sense of sacredness and holiness in the communion with nature.
My feelings exactly. 💚
How can you not feel like you are in the presence of creation and spirit, standing in the natural places on this gorgeous planet, feeling its age and wisdom? I believe life is a search for balance, and nature is the best place for me to balance my spirit. Thank you Tyler, for once again so eloquently and beautifully expressing what so many of us feel. I am so very glad I stumbled across you all those years ago. Stay rad.
Ok I had to scroll back through the logs after hearing this one this morning because it reminded me of something I wrote many years ago that I thought rang true to your words as well:
I've always said that religions are like shoes; they come in all shapes, colours and sizes but at the end of the day, they all have the same purpose: Protecting our soles.
And even those that don't have shoes, well, their feet just adapt; their soles get harder and they are able to get by with no shoes at all because their own bodies have provided the same protection.
We always want to shoe the shoeless instead of appreciating just how strong their soles already are all on their own.
Maybe if we all just took off our shoes, we too could learn to strengthen our soles and walk that much closer to the earth.