Tag: spirituality

When Does the Spiritual Become Political?

if my spirituality is based on love and compassion for all of the earth, then I am called to speak out against injustice.

Goddess Inspired

July 17, 2024

Tagged courage, Politics, Speaking My Truth, spirituality

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All of my life I have been a good girl. Being a good girl means not rocking the boat, not questioning, not speaking out about injustice – in short being a quiet little mouse who is afraid of any kind of controversy, who is afraid of taking a stand. No matter what I thought internally, I would not speak out on controversial subjects. I still struggle with the fear that voicing my opinion will lead to ostracism by those that I care about.

I abandoned the religion of my childhood many years ago and replaced it, not with religion and dogma, but with a spirituality based on love, compassion, empathy, and kindness. As I move deeper into my spiritual practices, I am asking myself the questions, “When does the spiritual become political and when am I called to speak out?”

What does spirituality have to do with politics? When do the two intersect? Those are big questions for me – especially if the answers require more of me than spending time in meditation. What if I am actually called to speak out in a group that doesn’t agree with me? My fear almost made me bury these questions, but fortunately, my spiritual journey wouldn’t allow me to let go of such an important inquiry.

I wrote a blog in October 2021 entitled “My Heart is Cracked Open,” and I included it in my book, WomanSpiritSpeaks: 52 Weeks with the Divine Feminine (Balboa Press, 2022). At that time, I was beginning to feel the deep stirring that was encouraging me to speak out about injustice, to be firm in my convictions, and to become more involved in doing my part to bring about change. What I continue to realize is that injustice, in whatever form it takes, becomes political. Lack – of housing, medical care, education, food, respect, bodily autonomy – is injustice. The -isms – racism, ageism, sexism – are all injustices. Jesus himself called for what we now label as political – radical love and acceptance for all.

If my spirituality is based on love and compassion for all of the earth, then I am called to speak out against these injustices. If it is political to call for justice, then so be it. If I raise my voice in protest or if I raise my voice calling for change, and it is labeled political, then so be it. It is my Source, the bedrock of my soul, that is calling for me to be the change in the world that I want to see. So I am choosing to speak out for justice, to support those who follow the way of love and peace, to support those who live lives of integrity and those who put others above their own interests. I invite you to join me in speaking up for the changes we want to see in the world. When our hearts are cracked open, what will we do next to make a difference?

My heart is cracked open
When I see the man kneeling on another man’s neck
When a child is shot with a phone in his hand
When vigilantes chase down a jogger because he looks at a house under construction
When a handcuffed man is kicked in the head
When mass shootings occur everyday
My heart is cracked open.
When a child victim of rape is forced to birth a child
When a woman is forced to carry a dead baby to termWhen a victim is blamed for the actions of her attacker
When no doesn’t seem to mean no
When women and children are trafficked and sold
My heart is cracked open.
When I see the smoke polluted air
When I taste the polluted water
When species disappear
When the powerful continue to use up and exploit our mother the earth
When profit is all that matters
My heart is cracked open.
©2022, Barbara Garland

Blessings on your journey,
July, 2024

What Am I Called to Do?

I imagine a golden river of loving energy flowing out from me to embrace everyone I meet.

Goddess Inspired

February 18, 2023

Tagged Activism, False Christianity, love, spirituality

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When does the spiritual become the political? Almost every time I see a headline my heart is broken. I am a seventy-four-year-old white woman living in an active retirement community. I am privileged and somewhat protected, and for that I am grateful. But when I read of daily mass shootings, book bans, lack of affordable health care, women almost dying because they can’t get an abortion, attacks on gay and trans people, racism, police brutality – my heart breaks, and I wonder what I am called to do to make a difference.

I was reared as a Christian, but I no longer recognize the Christianity of my childhood. I believe that Jesus would be appalled by the so-called Christians who are in the headlines. In my opinion people who wrap themselves in scripture but who have no compassion or empathy for anyone who is not white and straight are not Christian, no matter how loudly they proclaim their faith.

I grew up in a Christian home, and what I am seeing perpetrated by the Christian right is not Christianity. Jesus would be appalled at what people are doing in his name. Jesus’ message was one of love. He sat down and ate with the despised of his day. He accepted women as equals. He opened his heart to all. He invited people to become the most loving individuals that they could be. He did not judge, and he was not cruel.

Jesus, however, did call out injustice. He drove the money changers out of the temple in a fit of righteous anger. He was not always meek and passive, but rather he was a radical who called out the wrongs of his day. As a spiritual person, I no longer believe that it is enough for me to meditate and send out loving thoughts. I must do something. And the first step is to name the wrongs I see. All I have to do is to look at the headlines:

Six officers on leave after tasing black man to death
GOP blocked gun reform a year before MSU shooting
Marjory Taylor Greene and George Santo co-sponsor bill to limit LGBTQ books in classroom.
Six Dead as ‘Shooting Spree’ Rocks Small Mississippi Community
At least 1 dead after gunfire at Texas food court
Illinois man pleads guilty in Planned Parenthood clinic fire
71 mass shootings to date in 2023
Tennessee bans gender transition treatment for minors
Search warrants for menstrual tracking apps legal in Virginia
Near Total abortion ban passes South Carolina House

Guns, violence, misogyny, racism, sexism, homo and trans-phobia – all these arise from fear and lack of love. All these societal ills come from not being able to see God/Source/ Creator/Goddess in ourselves. What I can’t see in myself, I can’t see in others. When I can see the sacred in myself, I can see the sacred in others. I can open myself up to love. I can transform myself into a river of love flowing out to everyone in my path. I can see the world through the eyes of empathy and compassion.

So what am I called to do? I can call out injustice and wrongdoing when I see it. I can work for peace and justice in my own community. I can vote. I can write this blog. I can listen to people who are not like me. I can consume less. I can love. I imagine a golden river of loving energy flowing out from me to embrace everyone I meet. What are you called to do?

The Great Mystery

I can never know God/dess, then, in the way she knows me. No matter how closely we merge, I am but a small part of her vastness, only a small cell of her body.

Goddess Inspired

September 2, 2022

Tagged connection, Longing, Mystery, spirituality

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I believe that for those of us on the spiritual path, there is a deep longing to merge with the Divine, whom I name as God/dess (feel free to substitute your own name for the Divine as you read this essay). But it seems that, no matter how deeply I go, there is a gap, even a chasm that I cannot cross. There is always a distance between me and the Holy, and I am left longing for more.

I just read a biography of Julian of Norwich. She had ecstatic visions of Jesus and was in an intimate relationship with him, but always was left feeling the distance between herself and Jesus. She said in her Fourteenth Revelation, Chapter 41, “But yet oftentimes our trust is not full: for we are not sure that God heareth us, as we think because of our unworthiness, and because we feel right nought, (for we are as barren and dry oftentimes after our prayers as we were afore); and this, in our feeling our folly, is cause of our weakness. For thus have I felt in myself.” She had a longing that was never completely filled, and eventually she reconciled herself to the notion that she could never completely merge with Christ.

Mother Teresa, who devoted her life to the sick and the poor in India, was consumed with doubt. In one of her letters, she wrote, “I utter words of community prayers — and try my utmost to get out of every word the sweetness it has to give — but my prayer of union is not there any longer — I no longer pray.”

Last week, I wrote about merging my ego self with my deep self, my Soul. Even though I work hard to let go and merge into that deep spiritual connection, I am only partially successful. There is a longing in my soul that is never completely filled.

No matter how close I am to the Divine, I can never truly know the mind of God/dess. Even though God/dess dwells within me, the mind of the Divine is far too vast for me to know. Think of a drop of water in the ocean. It is a part of the ocean. You could even say that it is ocean, but it can never know the vastness of the ocean itself. It is similar to a cell of the body. The cell carries out its functions, its reasons for being, yet it can only know its small function within the whole. It can never know the entire body. The cell can never know the body in the way the body knows the cell. I can never know God/dess, then, in the way she knows me. No matter how closely we merge, I am but a small part of her vastness, only a small cell of her body.

Human beings are hard-wired to search for something greater than themselves. There is a deep longing to fill the empty places inside of us. Some fill it with things of the world – money, work, drugs, sex, family, fame. Some seek to fill it with a greater purpose, a relationship with the Divine.

I believe that the longing inside me is the mechanism by which I am called into the Divine. Without the longing, it would be easy to ignore the spiritual side of myself. Continuing to feel that deep pull, that longing for the Divine, is not a spiritual failure on my part, but it is how God/dess calls me to a deeper relationship with Herself. The longing calls me ever more deeply into the Divine Mystery. Even though I am but a tiny piece of that vastness that is the Holy mystery, I am pulled by that deep unfulfilled longing toward the Mystery, the Divine God/dess herself.

Barbara Garland
September, 2022

What Do We Do Now?

As women on a spiritual path, what are we to do with these feelings as we watch our human rights being taken away?

Goddess Inspired

May 13, 2022
2 Comments on What Do We Do Now?

Tagged Activism, Feelings, love, spirituality, Women's Rights

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What Do We Do Now?

I must admit that the past couple of weeks have been a struggle for me, and I daresay millions of American women. I have alternately been deeply frightened, livid with anger, sad and depressed. I have been left with a feeling of deep helplessness and hopelessness in the face of this war on women.

Although the Supreme Court’s decision is not yet final, it will take a miracle of major proportions for Roe v. Wade to stand. It feels like a gut punch, and I don’t know what to do with all the feelings that are coming up for me. We are going back to the dark ages when women had no agency over their own lives, and it is a terrifying step backwards. As women on a spiritual path, what are we to do with these feelings as we watch our human rights being taken away?

The truth is, I don’t know. The great spiritual teachers say to let our feelings flow through us, to sit with them, and allow them their full range, even when it isn’t comfortable. We are to be love and radiate love, even to those who are our enemies.

Right now, that is an extremely difficult thing to do. I don’t feel like radiating love. I am angry. Because of a mostly old white men, women will die. Intelligent women, strong women. Women who have much to contribute to society. Women and children, men and families will be doomed to lives of poverty and deprivation because they can’t afford another child or because a single sixteen-year-old mom will not have the resources to further her education. With no exceptions for rape or incest, children will be forced to bear children and women will have to deal with the emotional trauma of assault for the rest of their lives. And that is just the beginning. It is a disaster of major proportions for all women and the men who love them.

I used to think that the spiritual and political could be separate, but I no longer believe that it is possible. I cannot be silent in the face of what is happening politically. If I don’t speak out, I am complicit in the deaths of women. Because making abortion illegal will not end abortion, it will only end safe abortions.

Which leads me back to the question of what do we, who are on a spiritual path, do with these difficult feelings? There are several things that I am doing that might be helpful to you.

I am feeling my feelings. I am allowing them to flow through me. I am not ignoring them, stuffing them, or denying them. I am then allowing those feelings to inform my actions.
I am taking action, even if it feels hopeless. Even little things help me to feel like I am doing something. I am writing letters to my legislators. I am marching for women’s rights. I am giving money to organizations dedicated to women’s rights. I am praying, particularly for those who are in power, the very ones that I am angry with.
I am speaking up when I can. I recently had a conversation with a friend where I respectfully pointed out some ramifications that she had not thought about. It may not have changed her mind, but the conversation opened up some new things to think about.
I am trying to be love. When I truly follow the path of love, it leads me to consider the best possible life for the greatest number of people. The path of love values the life of a fully grown woman over the life of a clump of unformed cells. The path of love treats a woman as a whole person, not a womb or a vessel. The path of love supports children and families after a child is born. And, as difficult as it is, I am doing my best to send love to those I see as the perpetrators of this assault on women.
5. I realize that I can only do what I can do. This is not going to be solved quickly, maybe not even in my lifetime. I must be prepared to deal with all the difficult feelings that will continue to arise as I do my best to make a difference in whatever small way that I can.
My stance on this issue may not be your stance. However, it will take all of us – feeling, acting, praying, speaking out, and trying to make some small difference, for love to eventually win out. Blessings as you walk your path.

Barbara Garland
May, 2022

It’s That Simple!

What if we throw out all the old religious rules and go back to the basics? What if we listen to our own inner authority, the God/dess voice within? Is it that simple?

Goddess Inspired

July 30, 2021

Tagged Dogma, goddess, love, Religion, spirituality

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It’s That Simple!

I was talking to a friend the other day about her struggles with some very complicated spiritual teachings. These teachings are very hard to understand and usually require someone to interpret their meaning. These interpreters/teachers purport to be able to channel Spirit and seem to receive all their answers very clearly from Spirit. My friend is frustrated because she can’t seem to “get it.” She comes away feeling let down and “less than” because, as hard as she tries, she can’t seem to hear the clear messages that others seem to be hearing.

During that conversation, it suddenly struck me that if a spiritual teaching is that hard to grasp, maybe it is a human construct rather than something from Source. In my simple mind, God/dess (or whatever you name as your higher power) wants us to be connected with our Source. Why then would God/dess make it hard to connect?

All of the rules, regulations, commandments, dogma, and theology of organized religions seem to be designed to keep the masses in line and the ruling class in power. They are made to legitimize the status quo by making it appear that it was ordained by God. They are deliberately made to separate us from our own connection with Source. These religious teachings are made to be obtuse, so that people must go through a priest or intermediary to have a relationship with God. They are made to make us feel separate, unworthy, and unacceptable to our creator. They are designed to take away our individual agency in following our own spiritual path.

What if we throw out all the old religious rules and go back to the basics? What if we listen to our own inner authority, the God/dess voice within? Is it that simple?

For me, there are a few basics.

There is a Source greater than myself, which I have named for myself, God/dess. You may have another name that is meaningful for you.
This Source is not found in an external place, but rather lives inside each cell of its creation, including humans.
Everything is created in the image of God/dess, from the smallest atom of the smallest cell, to the whole of the earth, and as such we are all connected. We are all brothers and sisters to each other and to the creatures of the earth. We are all the beloved creations of God/dess.
Because our creator is pure love, our purpose then is to love –to love God/dess, to love ourselves, to love each other, and to love the earth.

If we truly lived by these basic tenets, the world would be a different place. We would see everyone as worthy of love. We would care deeply for others. We would revere our earth. We would see that we are not the rulers of our world, but rather the caretakers.

The more I think about it, the more I believe that we don’t need rules or dogma or theology to live our lives. We only need to live out our true purpose of living in love. It really is that simple.

Barbara Garland
July, 2021

The Paradigm of Wholeness

I have been thinking a lot lately about the concept of “wholeness.”

Goddess Inspired

October 15, 2020

Tagged acceptance, goddess, paradigm, spirituality, wholeness

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The Paradigm of Wholeness

I have been thinking a lot lately about the concept of “wholeness.” In my Christian upbringing, I was taught that the only way to be whole was through being forgiven, through Christ, for my sins. As a seven year old child, I wasn’t sure what my sins were, but I was sure that I wanted to be forgiven. And so, I asked Jesus to come into my heart.

The ministers in my faith tradition emphasized humankind’s sinfulness. I soon learned that I would always fall short, that I would always need forgiveness for something. I was never good enough, even though I had accepted Jesus. Even if I tried to be perfect, I was not good enough. So I became a prisoner of perfectionism.

I thought that if I just did everything right, I would be whole, and that the emptiness inside me would be filled. If I kept a perfect house, raised perfect children, had a picture-perfect marriage – then I would be whole. But of course, despite all my herculean efforts, the house was a wreck, the children were challenging, and my first marriage fell apart.

I was flawed, less than, and never enough. I was broken, not whole. I was a failure, and everything was my fault. My spiritual paradigm reinforced the concept of brokenness, not wholeness. It emphasized the fact that I would always fall short. It trapped me in a dualistic paradigm of either/or, good/bad, black/white. And it made me look outside of myself for salvation (wholeness).

I spent years looking for a path which leads to wholeness. As I began to open to the Sacred Feminine, I began to see that balance and wholeness come from accepting and loving all of myself. I began to move toward a new definition of spiritual wholeness that lead me away from that which is unattainable to something that already exists inside of myself.

Whole means complete, undivided, intact. What if I see myself, with all my flaws, quirks, and ugly parts as whole and unspoiled? What if I love myself for the unique person that I am? What if I don’t try to deny or suppress the parts of myself that I see as less than? What if I lovingly thank those parts of myself which try to protect me in ways that may not seem appropriate? What if I look inside of myself, not outside of myself, for the love and tenderness that I crave from others?

As I said in an earlier post, the Goddess calls us to embrace all of our humanity. If you look at the many aspects of the Goddess from cultures around the world, many of the Goddesses are rulers of both birth and death, light and dark. Fertility and fallowness. Gaia, Kali, Ishtar, Hel, Diana, the triple Goddess in all her forms – all these Goddesses manifest the full range of experiences and emotions in one being.

As humans then, all the conflicting and contradictory emotions that we feel every day comprise who we are as complete human beings. If I love and accept all of myself, then I am whole. I am not cut off from parts of myself. I am not fighting myself. I am not broken or flawed. I am free to live each moment. I become complete as a human being. I become who I was created to be.

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New blogs will be added to this post every Friday.

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About Me

I am a seeker of truth, a truth teller, a lover of the Divine Feminine, an aspiring writer, a mystery, an open book, a work in progress. I have lived a long and varied life, and now in my seventies, I am being called to share some of what I have learned over the years. I hope to share the wisdom of the deep Feminine that is being channeled through me.

If the Goddess has ever whispered to you, I invite you to join me on an incredible journey of love and discovery. May you hear Her wisdom through these words.

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