Your words felt like a soothing hug of connection. Your honesty and vulnerable, gorgeous heart, are the lights of truth.
More in common, as I too was raised Catholic. At 9 years old - in Catholic school - I realized that mean punishing man could not possibly be The divine creator. And so my questioning began.
To release ourselves from dogma, and see clearly our human need for it, as you so eloquently wrote, allows us the experience the freedom on offer from the great mystery. We do need each other in love, compassion and kindness as we venture into this place.
To belong… such a human need that has twisted our spirits up in knots.
I am so very grateful to have crossed paths with you. It was long ago and I heard something different in you , something bold and unique. I believe it was empathy and compassion and your real true desire to serve. Thank you.
Aw, Mary, thank you so much. I did feel very vulnerable sharing this one. Your response feels like a soothing hug of connection to me as well. I am grateful as well.
Help me comprehend deeper what this means in your healing , and for the children, please Nora “ Not having to go to church every Sunday was one of the benefits that hid the truth from my sister and me that there was no longer anyone minding the store of our well-being, including God. “
My only association with God at the time was religion, so with religion gone, this opened a void in me where my understanding of god (small g) could grow, ie: all of us are god, but it left a space I had to figure out how to fill in on my own, leaving me relieved to not have the dogma but without any actual spiritual guidance as a child.
"We were thrown from one side of the car from being completely controlled to the other side of complete abandonment.". I said " holy shit" when I read that. That's exactly what happened to me with my mom. (i love the nickname Dark Buster too!)
Great article. Thanks! I was raised Catholic too. Around nuns a lot in my youth as my aunt and almost aunt were nuns before they quit being nuns and my almost aunt's many sisters were all nuns. Luckily for me there wasn't the Catholic guilt. I think because my grandma wasn't like that so my Mom wasn't like that either. But I did the whole CCD, first communion, confirmation thing. I started to realize how crappy it all was when my Mom wasn't allowed communion because she was divorced. What a load of crap! I was introduced to Eastern religions as a philosophy major in college and that is when I started to broaden my horizons and ended any connection with Christianity and their god etc. I have been exploring and studying ever since different belief systems and sort of have a mixed bag of things for where I am now. But at the heart of it is love. Universal love.
Your words felt like a soothing hug of connection. Your honesty and vulnerable, gorgeous heart, are the lights of truth.
More in common, as I too was raised Catholic. At 9 years old - in Catholic school - I realized that mean punishing man could not possibly be The divine creator. And so my questioning began.
To release ourselves from dogma, and see clearly our human need for it, as you so eloquently wrote, allows us the experience the freedom on offer from the great mystery. We do need each other in love, compassion and kindness as we venture into this place.
To belong… such a human need that has twisted our spirits up in knots.
I am so very grateful to have crossed paths with you. It was long ago and I heard something different in you , something bold and unique. I believe it was empathy and compassion and your real true desire to serve. Thank you.
Aw, Mary, thank you so much. I did feel very vulnerable sharing this one. Your response feels like a soothing hug of connection to me as well. I am grateful as well.
Help me comprehend deeper what this means in your healing , and for the children, please Nora “ Not having to go to church every Sunday was one of the benefits that hid the truth from my sister and me that there was no longer anyone minding the store of our well-being, including God. “
My only association with God at the time was religion, so with religion gone, this opened a void in me where my understanding of god (small g) could grow, ie: all of us are god, but it left a space I had to figure out how to fill in on my own, leaving me relieved to not have the dogma but without any actual spiritual guidance as a child.
That's a very short response to something that probably needs a longer answer at some point.
21
June a bit out loud?
We give thanks
"We were thrown from one side of the car from being completely controlled to the other side of complete abandonment.". I said " holy shit" when I read that. That's exactly what happened to me with my mom. (i love the nickname Dark Buster too!)
Thank you :)
It took me a long time to understand that was what had happened. I am so sorry you experienced this as well.
I love this. Also a recovering Catholic here. There a lot of freedom in not HAVING to know all the answers, in the acceptance of the mysteries.
Yes! This freedom is so expanding.
Great article. Thanks! I was raised Catholic too. Around nuns a lot in my youth as my aunt and almost aunt were nuns before they quit being nuns and my almost aunt's many sisters were all nuns. Luckily for me there wasn't the Catholic guilt. I think because my grandma wasn't like that so my Mom wasn't like that either. But I did the whole CCD, first communion, confirmation thing. I started to realize how crappy it all was when my Mom wasn't allowed communion because she was divorced. What a load of crap! I was introduced to Eastern religions as a philosophy major in college and that is when I started to broaden my horizons and ended any connection with Christianity and their god etc. I have been exploring and studying ever since different belief systems and sort of have a mixed bag of things for where I am now. But at the heart of it is love. Universal love.
The greatest gift my parents gave me was no manmade organized religion…no dogma❣️
Instead I was brought up with Norman Vincent Peals Power of Positive Thinking💟
My Dad shared his lifelong mantra of “Desiderata”. It’s worth a Google😜