It's no surprise that I'm drawn to a spiritual life. I'm the daughter of a scientist/modern day theologian and a stay at home mother of five (can't get much more sacred than a life lived with children). I was raised amidst a large (no, huge) extended Catholic family and attended catholic school and church on weekends until my rebellious teens. Years later, I returned to teach in the primary school which was my own along with other fellow students who also became fellow teachers. I taught alongside some of the teachers that taught my siblings and myself and my Dad continues to play music in the same church I sang at as a young girl. Yet a Catholic I would call myself not. Despite all the familiar faces in all of the schools I taught at, bringing some degree of a sense of connection, I guess my spiritual calling has taken me much farther afield. I would now call my own spiritual journey a colourful and eclectic one. My mind is open, along with my heart. I like to explore and experience. It's not that I'm trying to find that one approach that fits, more that I have come to appreciate a variety of sacred viewpoints. I am learning that for me, it feels right to take what I need and appreciate from a range of sources, practices and ritual. I am learning that I can listen to my Inner voice and be led by that. I am thus in liquid process of an evolving faith. Where I find myself taken on this journey is to places of sacred comfort and unconditional love and kindness.
Inclusiveness has something to do with it too. I am a big believer in the idea that across all faiths and in all the searching hearts of this world, there remains one solid need. I sense one massive beating heart - a pulsing of the whole world's yearning for inner peace and contentment. And in answer to that call exists One, constant and true, pure source of LOVE. I believe that no matter how great our call for love, that there is always enough for us all - if only we can each find it. I think that's why I believe the relationship a mother has with her children is so divine, so spiritual in and of itself. A child's love for her/his mother is probably the closest tangible (in a physical life sense) thing to a relationship with our God/Goddess/Divine/Creator/Source/Spirit/Universe or whomever or whatever we would like to engage with. A child NEEDS this love. We all need it. How it may look and feel like - how it indeed manifests for each of us is unique, but in my mind, we're very much the same in this need for unconditional love.
So love truly felt (in all its lushness, surprise, excitement, fulfillment) and spiritual contentment are for me, one in the same thing. So with this in mind, I'm going to resist the urge to get frustrated at not getting enough "me time" or not being able to achieve something greater than what I can accomplish, and go and enjoy the rest of my weekend - caring for my sick five year old, nurturing my littlest one and lavishing my husband with random acts of kindness and LOVE with as much of myself as I can muster. And I *know* that it comes back to me reflected in the most perfect way. Of course, I also note that I have taken enough time for myself to come and reflect here too on why it is I do what I do; to take a breather; to do what I love; to write and to freely ponder my spiritual life on the go! Don't need church for that.
