I sense strongly that 2020 is about vision, how we see things; perspective.
January is anniversary month–a spiritual epiphany, January 6, and of the day I married my husband, January 13; 24 and 30 years, respectively. Both hold perspective and significance. They are great blessings that bring me to who I am.
Of the first, the epiphany, I left because I needed more–fairness, a feminine spirit sensitivity, awareness and inclusiveness.
Of the second, marrying Michael; both of us in our 30’s and both kept our birth names as our married names. Our ceremony was in church, one I had worked in. We made it inclusive, so all guests of whatever religion were welcome participants in all of it.
A deep sense of freedom and independence and humor lives in me and in our marriage. We’re both creatives. I love this man incredibly much, the wind beneath my wings, who inspires and loves me, and cooks … and sings too.
Grace and gratitude, wonder and awe, seeing patterns and pieces come together and play out. No regrets and lots of love. Sacred contracts and soul paths, and cosmic catalysts playing out perfectly.
In perspective, all necessary life-soul playing pieces come together …and we have roles to play.
Playing Pieces
They’re not all big ones. Example, these already showed up for me to play with:
A 4 a.m. brainstorm. Wide awake, compelled to make notes; Catholic around the edges, unofficial religion classes–WonderSpirit soul sistering ones–and topics followed. Catalyst: helping a friend, a long-ago ministry colleague, with a certification project. And a related text from a young woman of 16:
ME: Know tonight is religion class. What do you wish they’d talk about there, or teach, that they don’t?
HER: I don’t know because I kind of just zone out. But we do a fun interactive type of activity every class.
Age 16, student in Catholic catechism classes
Unplanned Book Finds
Some are Kindle editions that came across my path and interested me enough to invest in; others were Muse dates and Mom day finds along the way that beckoned:
This I Believe: The Personal Philosophies of Remarkable Men and Women
Soul Lessons and Soul Purpose: a Channeled Guide to Why You Are Here
The Gift of Years: Growing Older Gracefully
Intuitive You!: Psychic & Personal Development
Art & Soul, Reloaded: A Yearlong Apprenticeship for Summoning the Muses and Reclaiming Your Bold, Audacious, Creative Side
Medical Medium and Life-Changing Foods
Integrating all of this — basically, showing up and using everything in my life so far — is my work and soul path.
There are a lot of things we don’t have in life. But time is not one of them. Time is all we have. One lifetime under this name, to create a body of work that says, “This is how I saw the world.” Your work is worthy of whatever time it takes.
Jan Phillips
Perspective
Growing up Catholic gave me a colorful, wonderful Catholic Imagination, stories, rituals, sacraments, prayers, people, and community. And it was blatantly sexist… It’s allowed to be who it is.
One of the roots of #MeToo come from words preached on pulpits, though, by men representing ‘god’ in the eyes of church-goers. They were reading words of scripture, written by a man around two thousand years ago. He’s entitled to his opinion.
These men had no idea what a woman’s soul is or needs–how could they without living embodied as a girl–or the harm their words have done to the lives and livelihood of women That would be ignorance. Or, if their words are deliberate, intended to minimize, submit, and or exclude a gender, that would be arrogance.
Either way, it was a tipping point, a final straw–and I left in search of more nourishing and healing women’s words, and then created something empowerful, spirit-freeing, and positive in the process… Looking back, it’s Divine design, Life’s perfect school and creative prompts.
WonderSpirit soul sistering
MORE was about finding and celebrating the feminine spirit. After all, I grew up Catholic– and I’ve been praying to a goddess all my life. Hail Mary, Mother of God … a mother of God is a Goddess. (That’s one of those unofficial religion classes I teach that official Catholic religion classes probably don’t.)
I didn’t and don’t dis or toss out what I’d learned and loved all those years; I re-framed and added to them. I’ve been doing that all my life, too. I’d been prepared.
It was the 1960’s when Vatican II rocked my spiritual world–coinciding with the women’s movement and equal rights movement. Justice, fairness, equality, new ideas and activism; a nation in adolescence, coming of age; influences that changed and shaped all of us who grew up then.
Little easy thing that’s a big thing
It’s starts with language. A deliberate choice was made, back in the day when I was a parish staff member and lector, not to write the new lectionary (a book that holds all Sunday readings and is read from in all Catholic churches each week) using inclusive language, i.e. When a Scripture passage applies to all people, it would say all people. Instead, the bishops decided to leave it unchanged, i.e. using men and he.
Words
We are all more aware and sensitive these days. Language matters. When it’s your turn to read out loud, change the words.
What some around-the-edges words really mean:
Pagan – means of the earth; country dweller. I grew up on a farm–a country dweller; and yes, Mother Nature was and is always a most trusted teacher.
Witch – one who practices the Wiccan religion, a nature-based tradition that honors cycles and seasons and all of the natural world.
Heresy – a belief or opinion contrary to orthodox (especially Christian) teaching. (word split: her . e . sy…. her words, essays)
God – a Christian term for a male divinity; other traditions and religions use other words. It is not heard as an inclusive word.
Catholic around the edges
Grace, soul, faith, and spiritual in ordinary life is what I am about these days… soul sistering in Simple spirituality to make sense of stuff we heard as kids; connect traditional teachings with life–in practical ordinary everyday living words, ways, and examples; and empower our spirit freedom and amazing life.
As long as it’s not heresy… well maybe a little
What I teach, I don’t really teach in Churches, unless they’re okay that some of it might come under that heresy word. … teachings outside and along the edges of official church teachings (like that Hail Mary one), because that’s where Spirit has taken me. I found what I needed to feed and fuel my soul and life. Spirit and inspiration are alive and well in 2020, and that’s real time, and exciting to me.
I will always be a little Catholic around the edges. Everything I learned there is part of who I am–and all those other life school experiences that influenced me.
To own our name and our life, and to know we said yes to a divine dance with purpose, here, with our Source; and that we’re all in this together for a joyous life and soul projects; that’s exciting to me too. I created WonderSpirit and call it soul sistering…and teach interesting around-the-edges things I learned from life wisdom.
We didn’t all come with the same script or game plan; we all came on purpose, though: to fully play out the role of ourselves.
If there aren’t any waves, the boat’s not moving.
We must have objects of attention that are ringing our bells in order to feel the fullness of life flowing through us.
Esther Hicks and Abraham
What do you believe? Need to sort through some of them? to feed, free, and fuel your spirit? to energize your life?
