Dr. Janice Lundy
  • Home
  • About
    • About Jan Lundy
    • Speaking
    • Events
  • Spiritual Direction
    • Spiritual Direction with Jan
    • Group Spiritual Direction
    • Supervision
    • Testimonials
    • Spiritual Guidance Training Institute
  • Counseling Services
  • Pure Presence
    • Pure Presence Practitioner Training
    • Presence Blog
  • Writings
  • Resources
    • Courses
    • Podcasts
    • Vimeo
    • You Tube
  • This Sacred Moment
  • Gentle Reminders
  • Subscribe
  • Store
  • Contact
Picture

The Making of a Spiritual Life

Sustenance for an Interspiritual Heart

11/19/2021

11 Comments

 
Picture
Growing up, I never understood why I couldn't attend church with my friend, MaryBeth. She was Catholic, we were Lutheran, what could possibly be the difference? God is God, I thought. I felt the same frustration when it was made clear to me that I couldn't go to temple with my classmate, Eddie. He was Jewish. Adding to the confusion, my paternal grandmother was Congregational, my maternal grandparents were Methodist, and I sometimes attended church with them. I truly didn't understand what the problem was—worship was worship. 

Even as a child, my heart longed to experience the Divine wherever it could be found, whether in nature or in man-made structures dedicated to the holy. This longing was never not there; it was something that lived in me from my earliest memory.  

Finally, my wish granting day came. One Saturday during youth group we were told by our intern (Bob M, in residence at our church to become a pastor) that we should get outside the walls of our own church to see how other people experienced God. "God is much bigger than the God you know in this building," he said.

So on a Sunday morning a few weeks later, we found ourselves climbing aboard a bus headed toward First AME, a black church in our community where people joyously sang and danced out their devotion to God. Their prayers were loud, tearful and passionate. "Praise God from whom all blessings flow" took on an entirely new meaning  for me that day.  I found the experience mesmerizing, magical. And though I sat demurely and quietly with the rest of my group in the last pew, I felt as if my soul had been set free—as free as the white doves I imagined flying above the heads of the worshippers. Surely, this was heaven. Such joy! Such love!

My prayers to meet the Divine in other holy houses had finally been answered, my interspiritual journey had officially begun. There have been many more visits to similar places since then: Hindu, Buddhist and Bahai temples, Jewish synagogues, Catholic cathedrals, and Muslim prayer halls. Temples in nature too. In time, I became a teacher of World Religions, and one of my priorities was to take my students to visit other holy houses, and to meet with leaders of various traditions for intimate conversation so we could open our minds and hearts to one another. And to the Divine communally. 

There is a poem that holds my interspiritual heart. Each time I read it, I experience a deep sigh of relief and peace moves through my body. It affirms the essence of what I know to be true. 

In My Soul
by Rabia of Basra (Sufi mystic)

In
my soul
there is a temple, a shrine,
a mosque, a church
where I kneel.

Prayer should bring us to an altar
where no walls or names exist.

In 
my soul
there is a temple, a shrine, a mosque,
a church

that dissolve, that
dissolve in God. 

For Your Reflection:

1. Does my story have resonance with yours?
2. What is your experience of the Sacred in various holy houses?
11 Comments
Rosanne Taylor
11/20/2021 11:55:47 am

What a joy and pleasure TO MEET GOD right where HE MEETS us!!! His children!!!
The LOVE HE has for us is EVERYWHERE!!

Reply
Jan
11/23/2021 10:13:28 am

Roseanne, thank you for your joy about being loved as you are. Such a pleasure to hear amidst a culture that advocates not enoughness.

Reply
Barb Keyser
11/20/2021 11:58:58 am

This has been my belief for a very long time. I think we must open our horizons.
We had a priest say, God is in each of us.
I have always been exposed to different faiths, as my parents were a Christian interfaith couple.
I was taken as a Girl Scout to Mass on Sunday even though our troop was with a Congressional Church. This was many years ago, but through the years, I listen,
Learn and respect all faiths.

Reply
Jan
11/23/2021 10:14:11 am

Barb, thank you for sharing. I celebrate your experience of being faithful and open. Deep listening, so important.

Reply
Beth Webb
11/20/2021 01:26:57 pm

Yes! This resonates with me. Churches should not be competitive or exclusive. We can worship anywhere, whether it is a designated holy building, or while holding our babies at home. Every place is sacred.

Reply
Beth
11/23/2021 10:15:24 am

Beth, I've advocated this for a very long time. Nice to know we are kindred in this. In my view, everything is sacred, everyplace is sacred, every activity is sacred (or at least holds the divine potential of us seeing as a sacred invitation to More). Thanks for sharing!

Reply
Kaveri link
11/21/2021 12:27:42 pm

Jan, this helps me to reflect on my own spiritual journey: from the home Hindu rituals of childhood to prayer and singing in Baptist and Lutheran private schools, from visiting national parks throughout the US on vacation to indigenous practices of healing trauma and connection to the web of life, from
Swirling dervishes and Sufi poetry to meditation and writing classes inside a Jewish synagogue, from Buddhist meditation halls to home retreats during the pandemic.

A visceral relaxation and heart opening occurred when I read the words ‘as free as the white doves I imagined flying above the heads of worshippers.’

I also appreciate the poem by Rabia of Basra. Wherever we each make our spiritual home, may the doors of welcoming curiosity and love be open.

Reply
Jan
11/23/2021 10:16:56 am

Kaveri, I thank you for your reflections. The most open people I know are often the ones who have had "multiply religious" upbringings. Experiencing the Sacred in numerous settings offers us a deep heart invitation. I am so glad you accepted yours.

Reply
Sue P Thoele link
11/21/2021 09:19:43 pm

You are so wonderful. So interspiritually wonderful. I love you, honor you, and am so blessed to call you Friend!

Xoxoxoxo

Reply
Jan
11/23/2021 10:18:17 am

Thank you, Sue, so sweet of you to say this. All I know is that holding an interspiritual view is so calming, loving, breathing from a deep place of rest in the All. All my love to you too!

Reply
Carolyn link
11/23/2021 01:34:38 pm

Beautiful, as always! Namaste.

Reply



Leave a Reply.

    About 

    A safe and welcoming space to explore the unfolding nature of our spiritual journeys. 

    Subscribe

    Via e-mail

    Read

    my introductory article, "Embracing Spiritual Fluidity."

    Archives

    November 2021
    August 2021

    Categories

    All
    Inner Peace
    Inner Wisdom
    Interspiritual
    Mystics
    Poetry
    Spiritual Fluidity
    Spiritually Independent
    Spiritual Practice
    Temple Of Quietness
    Transcendence

Dr. Janice Lynne Lundy (PsyD, DMin, MPC)
is The Gerald May Professor of Spiritual Direction & Counseling at the Graduate Theological Foundation. She is an  interspiritual director/mentor, educator and counselor who has been pointing people back toward the Sacred for nearly thirty years. 

Connect
  • Home
  • About
    • About Jan Lundy
    • Speaking
    • Events
  • Spiritual Direction
    • Spiritual Direction with Jan
    • Group Spiritual Direction
    • Supervision
    • Testimonials
    • Spiritual Guidance Training Institute
  • Counseling Services
  • Pure Presence
    • Pure Presence Practitioner Training
    • Presence Blog
  • Writings
  • Resources
    • Courses
    • Podcasts
    • Vimeo
    • You Tube
  • This Sacred Moment
  • Gentle Reminders
  • Subscribe
  • Store
  • Contact