Are you there, God? It’s us, Humanity…
Q: Are you there, God? It’s us, Humanity…
A: Growing up with Judy Blume as a go-to author in my tweens, she helped me to start formulating my ideas around ‘God’. Her controversial Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret. ruffled some conservative feathers due to the exploration and introduction of sexuality and religion for young women entering puberty. Really? Today, with iPhones, nothing is off-limits it seems, and Blume’s honest approach is far behind us.
I didn’t go to church; my father was a Darwinist and believed we came from monkeys. He detested the idea of organized religion, forcing my grandmother to read me bible stories in secret. I loved those stories, I still do…the people of those times were some of my first heroes beyond Princess Leia, Luke Skywalker and Madonna – a pop star on the stage as opposed to a virgin mother. The prophet Jeremiah remains one of my solid reflections of being of service beyond personal comfort, as with Paul, Esther, etc.
Never having been groomed within a religious institution, I have always felt the freedom to make my own choices until I gave that superpower to an authority figure in my life. A ‘Guru-Shaman’ who convinced me he knew the way ‘home’ and I needed to follow him as well as bring thousands of others into his realm of spirituality. It sounds so absurd, yet I gave a decade of my life to this man and his mission, leaving behind my ability to discern for myself. It was powerful, relentless, and definitive as a profound ‘teaching moment’ in my life. The mistakes I made are countless and I’ve had the great fortune to be able to rectify them by living into my truth and being a voice for freedom beyond the cult of personality.
This new chapter of my life is just beginning as I slowly emerge from a place of hiding after not feeling safe and spied on for years. Now, let them spy on me…I don’t care. My attention is on true empowerment from within, co-creating a platform for deep inner work in order for all to liberate themselves from the bonds of these societal vampires (of which there are too many). Teachers, yes! Advisors, sure! False prophets, gurus, lascivious shamans, dictators-for-president, NO! At Joan of Sparc, the entire basis of our company rests on the laurels of our Guru Free Philosophy. We believe there are new ways of teaching and learning that empower individuals without creating co-dependency. Who we are being matters and we work tirelessly to encourage this awareness within our community; if we can change our minds, we can change our world.
Speaking of world…we are in quite a time of intensity, growing conspiracy, blurred lines between truth and false, radical advocation and activism, confusion, despondency, distraction, division, possibility, inspiration, creativity, and healing. Prayer has always been my reprieve, a source of connection and communion in the best and the worst of times. It doesn’t require religion, agreement, or others. The ability for us to go within and ask for help is innate and available to all.
We do need each other, especially in the most intense of days. My prayer is that we can get beyond our differences through connecting with our sameness and extend a helping hand to one another. Our sameness is a spectrum, it is human, ranging from qualities of light to dark and back again. Inner work is a sanctum from which we are each brought into a space of humility if we dare to enter, where no one can escape themselves, where the most exquisite of treasures reside inside the heart of our hearts, where we begin to know ourselves and thus others too.
In honor of prayer…
To the inner light within the heart of all beings, we ask for your love, mercy, and grace to inspire us towards truth. There is no greater ambrosia, healing balm or antidote; there is nothing sweeter, nor simultaneously bitter, than that which is true. Please give us the courage, the strength, and the humility to recognize the whispers and internal impulse to think, feel, act, speak, and live from this place. May we seek refuge within for greater understanding and clarity, for self-responsibility, and forgiveness of self and others.
Help us through the layers of distortion, the deception we have co-created and guide us to honor and integrity. Remind us who we are beneath our insecurities, fears, and projections. Resuscitate our memory of knowing and lead us to lucidity.
May we surrender from a place of comprehension, may we bring our sickness to light. May we be healed and restored in our nervous systems, eradicated of addiction and our relentless search for dopamine surge and reward. Let us fall into the palm of repose, resting in an instilled faith through our personal experience of that which is greater. Open the veils to that which is blind in us so we may see where we need to liberate ourselves…from ourselves.
Thank you for receiving this prayer. For we know not what we do, until we do know, and then it is our responsibility to change. Please provide us the inspiration to take these valiant steps toward inner work, despite the external distress. May our transmutation of self into that which is useful reflect a new world where everything is possible. Amen.
