Do any of these images resonate with you?
- Maybe you were deeply involved with a religious community, but have since been alienated, isolated, or rejected by that community, Despite loving that community, the feelings you had, or the sense of Divine connection you felt, you now feel utterly unwelcome to return and long for someplace to be safe and seen in your spirituality.
- Maybe you’re a religious leader yourself, but you’ve discovered the sad and frustrating thing about leading a religious community: you came to this work because you loved congregational life, but now you have no place to be ministered to, instead of always doing the ministering.
- Maybe you are a trans, genderfluid, or gender non-binary person who doesn’t feel at home--perhaps not even physically and emotionally safe in a religious congregation or community. Still, you have a deep longing for spiritual connection. Maybe other people’s prejudices have worn down your soul, so that you feel like looking for connection to the Sacred is a losing proposition altogether.
- Maybe you find it difficult to explain how deeply you long for the Divine. Maybe it even feels a little embarrassing to try, because you can’t imagine that anyone else will understand. Do words like yearning, longing, or seeking speak to you?
- Maybe you’re a committed member of a religious community because it really nourishes parts of who you are, because you love the community there, and because it’s comforting to go someplace each week where people know parts of you and your life. You find, though, that you long for a “deep dive” into the waters of spirituality, something More, something that maybe you can’t quite imagine, but are drawn to anyway.
- Maybe you identify as a freak--someone in the kink community, a modern primitive, a fire dancer and burner, someone who has always felt a little “out-of-bounds”-- and so maybe you find it difficult to fully show up in spiritual communities. They feel like places you cannot bring your whole self to the table, where you are sure you will be judged, misunderstood, or rejected.
- Maybe you’re a neurodivergent person and you find it difficult to do the things that religious communities often demand--being in loud, crowded places; sitting still; making eye contact; and touching people to greet them. Maybe you need different things from what some other people need, and one of those needs is the compassionate touch of the Divine.
- There just doesn’t seem to be anywhere where you can be truly seen and heard in your longing for intimacy with the Infinite. And though you go back again and again, hoping it will be different, you find yourself disappointed each time.
You may be drawn to work with me if you:
- are committed to your own authenticity -- nothing fake or put on because a religious (or any other) group says it has to be;
- believe in the value of your own personal spiritual experience;
- are willing to put in the time it takes to develop a deeper relationship with Spirit;
- and know that when your spiritual life and practice is in order, the rest of your life feels better, clearer, deeper, and more joyful.
If these values make you feel at home, read on at How It Works.
May I encourage you to learn where your own understanding and the voice of the Divine come together? May I help you reconnect with the wisdom of your body and heart?
I’d like to send you regular love letters. Tidbits of thinking about the magical, mystical journey that The Way of the River can be.
Please sign up on the right to receive my love letters, Reflections from the Way of the River. I look forward to sharing my work, and I know I’d love to hear from what you’re hoping for in your life. My love letters can help us start that conversation.
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