I read your inspired writings because they strike a cord in me. I don't like to label myself for I appreciate all ways and might be considered a woo woo. I love Jesus and am not a defined Christian. I love Buddha and am not a defined Buddhist. I love the Sufi way and am not a defined Sufi. I love the teachings of those with Gurus such as Ram Dass, and yet I am not defined by Hinduism or those Native American practices that offer such ground and prayer in this world, reaching to the ancestors, yet I am not defined by such. How you describe the writings that come, I believe, has to do with your true intelligence; your Loving Awareness that culminates into wisdom coming through you. For me, you are in touch with the true heart beat of life, with the Christian background as the vessel from which you offer yourself. I so appreciate the studies of your life and the understandings you bring alive in these writings. I do hope you write that book. I will buy it. You are needed and valued in this world. With love and gratitude, Gwen
I followed you over from my other Substack, Awaken to the Dream.
I feel that what you refer to as the “mystical” experience is what Jesus & other Gnostics referred to with “gnosis.” This was the very heart of his teaching, to me.
I left organized religion many years ago, because it was so flat & dogmatic (even in the gentle denomination I was raised in, Methodist). I didn’t want someone to tell me who God is (who I refer to now as Source because of all the patriarchal associations with the word God - Source Creator transcends gender, to me), I wanted to know God myself. And every question I posed to my pastors was given strange treatment, glossed over, and now I can see that they didn’t really know the answers.
As for me, I’m 37, a single mother, live in the US, work with plant medicine & shamanic practices, have had a multitude of mystical experiences, and want to help better the world by helping others have these same experiences.
I love that you present Jesus closer to how I believe he was and what he taught - that God/Source wants us to know Them, that anyone can do so with dedication, and that God is Love.
I find this to be the perennial truth in all religion & mystic traditions if you can look past the dogma.
Thank you for all you do, and keep up the good work! 🙏🏼
I feel like all the other ducks are odd, lol, and I love them all.
I am a 61 year old woman. I am a practicing Episcopalian. I have been married to my husband, Greg, for 33 years. We have two wonderful daughters, 30 and 32. My woo woo may be that I believe in the energy of the universe, and I believe in some form of time travel. I try to understand how and why "we" are here. I love to read, and listen, and research, and discover. I am fascinated with the workings of our world and of our minds.
I started following and reading you after my Pastor mentioned it in a sermon. He is a man filled with great knowledge about many things. I love the way he can open his thinking to others, much the way you do.
I am thankful and grateful for you....Keep writing!
I’m a 62-year-old white, cis, wife and mother, a practicing progressive Lutheran who struggles with traditional Christian beliefs. I live in Washington, DC. You and I spoke briefly at the IANDS conference last summer where I was volunteering. To me, you and Bruce Greyson were the two rock stars at that conference. I have never had an NDE, OBE, or STE, and I find them fascinating. I need discussions of mysticism to come from someone whose background mirrors my own, and in particular, someone who has had mainline Christian theological training. Someone who can integrate mysticism with our culture’s Newtonian perspective on the world. You are that Venn diagram for me, and that’s why I read your blog. I am still trying to perceive Jesus through the layers of two millennia of myths obscuring his life and messages. I’m trying to understand what experiencers have told us about the life to come as it relates to what I’ve been taught about it. (I’ve tried to leave substitutionary atonement behind, but a lifetime of that teaching clings stubbornly.) But most of all, I appreciate how thoughtfully you address traditional Christian themes and quote scriptures from a perspective that allows me to see and understand them as never before. I echo Peter Panagore’s comment—please keep writing.
Stephanie---Episcopalian, love your sermons and writings---crank up the Divine Feminine, the Catholic Church does a good job with DF, I have approx 50 different Mary pics on my bureau from different Catholic Churches, She has helped me a lot over many, many years. Evan
I echo the above, I was brought up a Christian but don't label myself in any way. I am 33, live in the UK, and started looking into spirituality, quantum physics, neuroscience, etc...to understand spiritual experiences and communications which came about suddenly 12 months ago after my grandma's passing. I gradually discovered that others had had the same experiences and that it all seems to make sense within a unified framework. I love the way in which you draw together religion and spirituality. I'm very grateful to have found your work!
Hello! Kris W here. I am a progressive Christian with mystic leanings from my teens. As you know I'm white cis, nearly 60 yrs old. Would love a recommendation about local parish with similar odd duck preachers/communities in metrowest. My reading is what is feeding me currently. We went to St. Andrew's for 11 years.
Hi Stephanie. I'm Near-Death Experiencer and ex-clergy. Keep writing. Peace, Peter
I read your inspired writings because they strike a cord in me. I don't like to label myself for I appreciate all ways and might be considered a woo woo. I love Jesus and am not a defined Christian. I love Buddha and am not a defined Buddhist. I love the Sufi way and am not a defined Sufi. I love the teachings of those with Gurus such as Ram Dass, and yet I am not defined by Hinduism or those Native American practices that offer such ground and prayer in this world, reaching to the ancestors, yet I am not defined by such. How you describe the writings that come, I believe, has to do with your true intelligence; your Loving Awareness that culminates into wisdom coming through you. For me, you are in touch with the true heart beat of life, with the Christian background as the vessel from which you offer yourself. I so appreciate the studies of your life and the understandings you bring alive in these writings. I do hope you write that book. I will buy it. You are needed and valued in this world. With love and gratitude, Gwen
I followed you over from my other Substack, Awaken to the Dream.
I feel that what you refer to as the “mystical” experience is what Jesus & other Gnostics referred to with “gnosis.” This was the very heart of his teaching, to me.
I left organized religion many years ago, because it was so flat & dogmatic (even in the gentle denomination I was raised in, Methodist). I didn’t want someone to tell me who God is (who I refer to now as Source because of all the patriarchal associations with the word God - Source Creator transcends gender, to me), I wanted to know God myself. And every question I posed to my pastors was given strange treatment, glossed over, and now I can see that they didn’t really know the answers.
As for me, I’m 37, a single mother, live in the US, work with plant medicine & shamanic practices, have had a multitude of mystical experiences, and want to help better the world by helping others have these same experiences.
I love that you present Jesus closer to how I believe he was and what he taught - that God/Source wants us to know Them, that anyone can do so with dedication, and that God is Love.
I find this to be the perennial truth in all religion & mystic traditions if you can look past the dogma.
Thank you for all you do, and keep up the good work! 🙏🏼
I feel like all the other ducks are odd, lol, and I love them all.
I am a 61 year old woman. I am a practicing Episcopalian. I have been married to my husband, Greg, for 33 years. We have two wonderful daughters, 30 and 32. My woo woo may be that I believe in the energy of the universe, and I believe in some form of time travel. I try to understand how and why "we" are here. I love to read, and listen, and research, and discover. I am fascinated with the workings of our world and of our minds.
I started following and reading you after my Pastor mentioned it in a sermon. He is a man filled with great knowledge about many things. I love the way he can open his thinking to others, much the way you do.
I am thankful and grateful for you....Keep writing!
I’m a 62-year-old white, cis, wife and mother, a practicing progressive Lutheran who struggles with traditional Christian beliefs. I live in Washington, DC. You and I spoke briefly at the IANDS conference last summer where I was volunteering. To me, you and Bruce Greyson were the two rock stars at that conference. I have never had an NDE, OBE, or STE, and I find them fascinating. I need discussions of mysticism to come from someone whose background mirrors my own, and in particular, someone who has had mainline Christian theological training. Someone who can integrate mysticism with our culture’s Newtonian perspective on the world. You are that Venn diagram for me, and that’s why I read your blog. I am still trying to perceive Jesus through the layers of two millennia of myths obscuring his life and messages. I’m trying to understand what experiencers have told us about the life to come as it relates to what I’ve been taught about it. (I’ve tried to leave substitutionary atonement behind, but a lifetime of that teaching clings stubbornly.) But most of all, I appreciate how thoughtfully you address traditional Christian themes and quote scriptures from a perspective that allows me to see and understand them as never before. I echo Peter Panagore’s comment—please keep writing.
Stephanie---Episcopalian, love your sermons and writings---crank up the Divine Feminine, the Catholic Church does a good job with DF, I have approx 50 different Mary pics on my bureau from different Catholic Churches, She has helped me a lot over many, many years. Evan
I'm an Episcopal priest retired, still writing. I too have had not near-death, but non-traditional experiences of the divine voice—never silent..
I echo the above, I was brought up a Christian but don't label myself in any way. I am 33, live in the UK, and started looking into spirituality, quantum physics, neuroscience, etc...to understand spiritual experiences and communications which came about suddenly 12 months ago after my grandma's passing. I gradually discovered that others had had the same experiences and that it all seems to make sense within a unified framework. I love the way in which you draw together religion and spirituality. I'm very grateful to have found your work!
Hello! Kris W here. I am a progressive Christian with mystic leanings from my teens. As you know I'm white cis, nearly 60 yrs old. Would love a recommendation about local parish with similar odd duck preachers/communities in metrowest. My reading is what is feeding me currently. We went to St. Andrew's for 11 years.