Thank you both for exploring this broad topic together. Wendy, your experiences are all coming together, and I appreciate you sharing them. I hope people who can appreciate this can discover it. It is a great first-hand account of how to trust yourself and to find yourself on the journey out of toxic religion to a healthier place. I love the path of following beauty, which is so often the way out. My wife and I followed beauty to a more healthy church, and then beyond that to the ancient streams of contemplative Christian wisdom, cross-fertilized with the wisdom paths of other religions. It helps to hear others tell their story, after doing such profound self-reflection on it.
I would love to. I worry that I won’t be a strong enough participant while I am still transitioning to Austin. But I will download Church of the Wild today so I can join in.
Bruce - I think the next chapter for me is to lean more into the cross-fertilization with ancient wisdom paths from all traditions. Sadly, it seems many who try following that path ultimately leave the Christian tradition because they are told they are outside the lines of the fatih. I really like how Veronica Loorz uses the label of "edgewalker" in her book Church of the Wild. I am hoping if there is enough interest in the book, it might be a way of opening up that conversation in a way that does not cause harm but expands us beyond the rigid lines that most think define the Christian tradition. You have been such a wonderful encourager through the years, reminding me that my journey is my own and to follow the spirit wherever it leads me. I hope you will join us for the book study if we have others who are interested.
Your aspiration to lean more into the cross-fertilization with ancient wisdom paths from all traditions reminds me of a wise Buddhist teacher who told one of his students, “Yes, my child, all paths lead to the top of the mountain, but if you keep switching paths, you my never reach it. To which I like to add whoever just walks around the base of the mountain criticizing religion may never get there either.
I also like the ancient religion wheel, with a hub (source), and spokes, and a perimeter to which the energy of the source emanates and becomes more and more dense and defined in physical form. Not creating different religions (often at odds with each other), but souls creating the religions to find their way back to God. The spokes that led to religious diversity are the portals through which souls return to the Source. The religions are the souls’ work. God’s work to receive every soul that genuinely seeks, regardless of which of the soul’s own constructions it used as the spoke for the seeking. And in the process of taking the journey of return to the Source, we all begin to see that we are closer to each other than we realized from the perimeter.
Conversations like ours was exactly why I wanted to start a podcast! Thank you, Wendy, for sharing your story, even the vulnerable parts. I'm inspired to get outside the four walls of the church and start making a difference in my community!! <3
Thank you both for exploring this broad topic together. Wendy, your experiences are all coming together, and I appreciate you sharing them. I hope people who can appreciate this can discover it. It is a great first-hand account of how to trust yourself and to find yourself on the journey out of toxic religion to a healthier place. I love the path of following beauty, which is so often the way out. My wife and I followed beauty to a more healthy church, and then beyond that to the ancient streams of contemplative Christian wisdom, cross-fertilized with the wisdom paths of other religions. It helps to hear others tell their story, after doing such profound self-reflection on it.
I would love to. I worry that I won’t be a strong enough participant while I am still transitioning to Austin. But I will download Church of the Wild today so I can join in.
Ohhh, I see that I bought the book (Church of the Wild) in December.
So glad you own it!
Bruce - I think the next chapter for me is to lean more into the cross-fertilization with ancient wisdom paths from all traditions. Sadly, it seems many who try following that path ultimately leave the Christian tradition because they are told they are outside the lines of the fatih. I really like how Veronica Loorz uses the label of "edgewalker" in her book Church of the Wild. I am hoping if there is enough interest in the book, it might be a way of opening up that conversation in a way that does not cause harm but expands us beyond the rigid lines that most think define the Christian tradition. You have been such a wonderful encourager through the years, reminding me that my journey is my own and to follow the spirit wherever it leads me. I hope you will join us for the book study if we have others who are interested.
Your aspiration to lean more into the cross-fertilization with ancient wisdom paths from all traditions reminds me of a wise Buddhist teacher who told one of his students, “Yes, my child, all paths lead to the top of the mountain, but if you keep switching paths, you my never reach it. To which I like to add whoever just walks around the base of the mountain criticizing religion may never get there either.
I also like the ancient religion wheel, with a hub (source), and spokes, and a perimeter to which the energy of the source emanates and becomes more and more dense and defined in physical form. Not creating different religions (often at odds with each other), but souls creating the religions to find their way back to God. The spokes that led to religious diversity are the portals through which souls return to the Source. The religions are the souls’ work. God’s work to receive every soul that genuinely seeks, regardless of which of the soul’s own constructions it used as the spoke for the seeking. And in the process of taking the journey of return to the Source, we all begin to see that we are closer to each other than we realized from the perimeter.
Conversations like ours was exactly why I wanted to start a podcast! Thank you, Wendy, for sharing your story, even the vulnerable parts. I'm inspired to get outside the four walls of the church and start making a difference in my community!! <3