Interfaith Reporter
By loveCarol - Holy Names Mission
Hi. Hello. Ho. Namaste. Namaskar. Haribol and peaceful Greetings in love and light of every name and form.
I'm Carol, your roving interfaith reporter, bringing the joy of worship in some of its infinitely varied gatherings to you. I love to get into God's presence with God's people and I'll go most anywhere to experience the richness and wonder of spiritual life with others.
People are able to share their faiths, spiritual practices and religious buzzes across cultural and institutional boundaries today as never before. Big corporations like IBM and Apple, while suing each other for billions, are nonetheless collaborating on some projects. Ministers of formerly bitterly opposed denominations are now gathering to discuss common issues. Parts of the Body no longer have to be separate to be distinct in these new times when we're learning unity in diversity. So whether a group's primary purpose is to worship, raise the vibration of Peace, invoke healing, get transcendental knowledge, serve, save, or give thanks, these assembled aspects of the family of God are a happy resource of bliss for those who are confident in their faith, and of insight for those who are still wondering.
Many of us have been on an absorbing spiritual pilgrimage for a long time, and have learned to fend for ourselves in the naturally hazardous empires of organized religion, aligning ourselves with the truth in our own hearts, and with the huge mass of relatively realized souls on the planet who just love to love God.
"God is good. All the time," as they say
and, "See God in all things. See good in everything."
There are also more people than ever who may have had little or no experience in a church or temple of anything, not even a new-age seminar or a VBS. And of course many have been hurt or disillusioned by one group or another, or for other reasons have concluded that silent or solitary worship is best.
To me, anyone in the family of God -risen, fallen or in-between - is worth being given a chance to share their point of view. It's my hope that these reports, providing some glimpses inside genuinely joyful sacred spaces, will expand awareness, engender some healing, or (Lord willin') foster understanding and spiritual growth in some way for us.
May you be personally blessed as you visit our homeland of the holy with me in the following reflections.
Your servant, Carol
holynamesmission@tds.net
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LOVING GOD TOGETHER
A postcard follow-up came nicely and promptly after my visit to the Westside United Pentecostal Church in Tullahoma, Tennessee.
It was a nice gesture of welcome from a church body that had already overwhelmed me with its loving simplicity and happy situation, living in the joyous ocean of the Holy Spirit. The holy Presence, I must say, was witnessed in full majesty there as it was so free to move in their midst. One side of the altar space was thoroughly electrified for the drums, keyboards, piano, organ, guitar and accordion (!) that accompanied two robust vocalists and ourselves in the rousing hymn-opener. "Come On In This House." Later the full choir came, we all joined in, and the music grew very great - with a beat, without hymnals, and all from the heart.
Every year is filled with unique spiritual happenings so rich,
who would want to miss sharing them?
A breakfast gathering at the Jewish Temple on Peachtree with the Dalai Lama and interfaith folk in the glorious morning light of the huge eastern windows, singing "Let there be Peace on Earth and let it begin with me..."
An authentic and remarkable peacefulness, deep serenity, on a splendid day at the Center for Spiritual Awareness in the mountains near Lake Rabun. A wonderful time of study and reflection in the inspirational library, and wandering the beautiful, well-kept grounds after the morning's profoundly silent group meditation, vegetarian breakfast, and stretching class.
Another morning's 8AM found us at Dr. Barbara King's Hillside Chapel and Truth Center, in south Atlanta - a service so high and intriguing that I stayed for the 10 o'clock - and then naturally flowed on into the 12 o'clock service as well, with the staff all in white, and the mass choir keeping us all rocking in Spirit and rolling with expressions of encouragement to our seatmates - with supplications, and with praise - until nothing else existed.
The family of God has spiritual feasts of so many descriptions prepared before them. It's an opulent cultural smorgasbord as humans from everywhere on the planet express their devotion and highest understandings with one another. For me, throughout the years of passionate exploration, there seems to be a new wonder to discover at every point along the pilgrim's journey of doubt, assurance, and growth. At each new turn there is
another confirmation of the sublime Truth of the one good God of many forms and many names, whose love is everything.
There is such profound enlightenment and strength available in this process of tasting the love of God expressed in these ecstatic assemblies of various religious bodies. It's no wonder people dabble (if they dare to test the living waters at all), rather than commit to any one group or system, (although such dabbling is a known cause of spiritual confusion and failure to develop a life-giving devotion).
And of course, there are perils, too. Doubtless none of us has escaped being troubled by the earnest conviction of someone whose genuine religious zeal is nonetheless coming from a consciousness level which is relatively less-evolved and intent on conquest, or by a story or a sermon so tainted we were sickened of the whole business. Stories of abuses are threaded (and oft-quoted) through every organized body - yet Truth ever stands out for each sincere soul going on for fulfillment.
At the Westside Church in Tennessee I was one with them in tearful joy as we bathed in the time of prayer and praise, but remained braced for the possibility of preaching from a patriarch who held little hope for our worthiness. In this instance relief came soon enough, as we were addressed with great wisdom and kindness in a sermon so intelligent and pertinent that I reflected on its points all week (and this in a group on a very narrow path, denouncing worldliness, and conducting its whole service without any pieces of paper - very direct.)
In these years since my own deep commitment and service to one body of believers began to be impossible to sustain, what's become clear is that the core of faith, the simple love of God, of Truth, in the individual heart, is all we really have and all we really need. It is shared across an astonishing range of cultures, theologies, sciences and philosophies. Drum circles and Holy Eucharist, singings and prayer meetings, chanting, dancing and meditating - such a glorious multitude of us are discovering, appreciating, and enjoying our eternal life, even while in this world.
DEVELOPING A PERSONAL RELATIONSHIP WITH THE ONE INSIDE IS, WITHOUT A DOUBT, THE MOST SATISFYING LIFESTYLE.
Here's another armchair journey, another special pilgrimage, this time to the mountains of middle Tennessee, where the Hare Krishna's celebrate the Lord of the cow pastures.
Virtually hidden in the steep rounded hills and unreasonably beautiful farmland of this area is a 250-acre farm dedicated to "simple living and high thinking." Here they garden organically and protect their cows (many rescued from nearby farms where they might have been destroyed.), enjoying a cuisine of incredibly tasty India-style vegetarian food. They worship in a small, beautiful marble-floored temple, surrounded by often noisy peacocks, and they live in small rustic hillside cabins, some just now improved with running water and most still heated with woodstoves. In the early hours, before dawn, the devotees rise to greet the lavishly decorated deities of Lord Chaitanya and Lord Nityananda, divine personalities who eternally frolic in the transcendental pastures of the spiritual sky and who, while incarnating here some 500 years ago, revealed dancing and chanting the various holy names of the Lord to be a universal experience of eternal life, and the best way to improve life on earth now.
Mother Vijaya served as hostess when I was there. She is a lovely blond woman, raised as a Quaker, who is deeply committed to Vaishnava philosophy and the value of healthy, self-sustaining communities. While her husband is away in the Smokies during tourist season, distributing their books, talking with people about God, and accepting donations, Vijaya coordinates temple activities, teaching the one student in the newly-opened school, and pursuing her career in massage therapy. Festivals, for saint's days and special occasions, are frequent here, and bring Indian guests from nearby states to relax in the rolling landscape, and worship with drums, songs, readings , talks, and spiritually transformed vegetarian feasts in great proportions, served on a long, screened porch with rocking chairs. There is a profound beauty in this path, which does feel like it spans all space and time, just as they say it does. All nationalities can worship together, using the timeless Sanskrit chants, and become prepared to die well, too.
In the nearby community of Belvidere, the Mennonites share their carefully controlled and yet perfectly open culture at the Swiss Pantry store which serves the public their homemade breads and cheeses from a visible kitchen, cheerily staffed by women of all ages who are clothed in head-veils, aprons and dresses - all modestly alike, except in various colors. This group appears vibrant, with thriving businesses and perfectly maintained properties. On one of the days I visit, they are clear-eyed and smiling as they serve pork roast and donuts in an outdoor tent to a large open-house crowd.
The Krishna devotees, by contrast, struggle to finish projects or keep things in working order, not unlike the way things are in India from which their ancient tradition comes.
As in India, the devotees of Krishna observe complex, intense spiritual practices, and they carefully consider things like how to keep the flies off the cows without harming either one, a careful, reverent consciousness similar to that of orthodox Judaism. All three groups have happy-looking children and are inspiring in their complete commitment and dedication to live a life that unquestionably honors God before all else.
Back in Georgia, the Jonesboro congregation of Unity Christ Church holds a quarterly healing service. To begin, they gather in a circle to invoke Divine Presence, and then scatter to designated stations for various persons to apply their approaches to health on those desirous of freedom from illness. There are counseling, Reiki treatments, hypnotherapy, and a number of other alternatives offered. After a specified period, all gather again to close the service and thank God, (as Principle, Person, or whatever the individual knows as Truth) for healings and blessings received by both givers and takers.
At the Methodist church in Red Oak, healing is effected at the closing altar call, when the minister, once (and perhaps always) a Baptist, uses his gift to draw opened hearts home, while the heart-opening old hymns resound. In the pews, humbled souls give up their pain and guilt in a quiet act of surrender or a wash of tears, and accept at-one-ment and the gift of personal peace. Afterwards, the regular feasts in the sunlit downstairs dining hall replenish body and soul in an irresistibly happy mood of thanksgiving. There's usually even some health food, along with the requisite fried chicken.
On to Om-m-mming with the Rainbow family of Living Light, as they're loosely known. Some 30 years ago this group took to gathering in the National Forests every year, initially as a matter of asserting personal freedom: the right to assemble peaceably on public land and also the freedom to pursue happiness, which for this group decidedly meant to party without restriction. The national gathering, attracting thousands, still goes on every summer at some fairly remote location within a forest in the U.S., and there are smaller gatherings year 'round in various other locales.
What is spiritual about the Rainbow family, (as this group, having no leader, is collectively known,) is that they regard the family as consisting of anyone with a belly-button - that means, everyone is family on this planet, and worthy of respect and kindness. There is an Earth-based religious mood here: drumming, some smudging smoke to purify, and a strong emphasis on regarding the Earth as sacred ground. Mostly-vegetarian meals are communally prepared, as resourcefully and consciously as possible, in awareness of planetary stewardship. Each individual is important to God, by whatever definition, and is encouraged to express their divine individuality as much as desired.
At special events of the earth calendar, such as the summer Solstice, there is usually a large circle of people, hundreds, or thousands at the Nationals, clothed, painted, or not, who form a circle holding hands around a meadow or open space, and an awesome silence is observed as each heart offers its highest thoughts or prayers for the whole. Most will chant an extended "Om", the Sanskrit sound of transcendental vibration and oneness, over and over, ' round and 'round the great circle. They’re always shouting “We love you,” at one another across the circle and across the huge campgrounds.
At regular interfaith gatherings in Atlanta, Rainbow family members are vitally present with representatives of various other faiths: Japanese Buddhists, Hare Krishnas, Christians, Jews, neo-Pagans, Sufis, Native Americans, Muslims, people of Ancestor worship, and others gather in a circle of song, dance, and prayer as we circle the globe, inquiring of each continent for spiritual gifts from each one. Respect is the hallmark of this reverent (and fun) sharing of the different traditions as we learn more about each other. Here, there is truly unity in diversity.
At the Mineral Bluff House of Prayer in Morganton, GA each pew has its own large box of Kleenex, as hearts will surely be opened and emptied of their pain in this austerely plain but sweet and lively environment of multi-instrumental music, multi-voiced prayer, and earnest evangelization and praise for salvation. There is a wonderfully-high feeling in “loving the Lord God with all our hearts and with all our minds and with all our might, and loving one another as ourselves,” as Lord Jesus has stated is the first and greatest Commandment. The pastor, a small man in jeans and a deep red shirt at the Saturday night “Singing,” faithfully encourages each performance along with the congregation, with nods and hand-waving and Amens, and later he humbly calls me “Sissy”, with genuine tenderness toward this stranger as if I were indeed a beloved family member, which in God he and I truly believe I am.
Back at St. Mark’s Episcopal Church in Copperhill, TN, I take my place at the organ, and begin the timeless musical liturgy of the Anglican tradition, where the ancient familiar words are spoken, no matter where in the world one worships, and the music always carries a message from the Holy Spirit that is appropriate to the Lessons, and to the forward moving sense of seasons that the Church recognizes. We pray, we recite Psalms - we address our shortcomings, and we share a common cup of spiritual replenishment, on our knees – we leave to a rousing hymn of victory over fear – and we have again made our “sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving.” A ritual that aligns us with our Creator, that brings us Peace and promotes harmony with all Creation.
At the Sukyo Mahikari Temple in Decatur, GA we bow and clap three times at the huge, spare, and beautiful Japanese-style altar, before “receiving Light” from a volunteer there. Theirs is an organization that loves cleanliness and service, and they have a great saying, printed on hand-out cards:
“The origin of the world is one.
The origin of all human beings is one.
The origin of all religions is one.”
I have an affirmation adapted from the Unity tradition that I printed out to keep close to my mind and share with others:
“I am the ever-renewing, ever-unfolding expression of infinite life.
You are the ever-renewing, ever-unfolding expression of infinite life.”
May we ever know Joy, and greet each other in love.
Carol – holynamesmission@tds.net
This article was posted by Holy Names Mission
