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AWAKENING
TO HEAVEN WITHIN
(Awakening with A.C.)
My Spiritual Contributor of the Week 1:
Marianne Williamson
You may be wondering: How on Earth did I go from a corporate accountant to a self-perceived creative writer on a spiritual journey that took place all in my own mind? I can give one person credit for at least the beginning of that transformation: Marianne Williamson.
As I approached my late thirties, life was pretty good, relatively speaking. I had amazing, loving parents, great siblings, very good friends, and a job I did not love but liked - one that provided a comfortable life. In a world of pain and suffering, I had it pretty good. Yet I kept thinking, "There must be more than this."
During one of those deep contemplations about the meaning of life, I told my mother what I was thinking. Her response was, "I think there is a woman that Oprah likes, preaching right down the street from you, and maybe you should check her out."
Well, I did. The next Sunday, I talked a buddy into going with me to a place called Church of Today to check out this so-called Oprah spiritual teacher.
"Cult, Alert!"
When my buddy and I walked into Church of Today, the sanctuary was huge and packed. In hindsight, the energy was amazing. There was an incredible choir, people standing and dancing, and complete joy on their faces.
My first thought? "Cult, alert!" My second thought? "Whatever you do, do not let them talk you into signing anything."
Then the choir finished, things quieted down, and this quite attractive brunette with incredible energy bopped onto the stage. My third thought was, "Hello, who do we have here?" Come on. I might have been a lost soul at the time, but I was still a dude.
Additionally, all my so-called spiritual teachers up to that point had been old white dudes, so this was a major paradigm shift for me.
She talked about heaven and hell, unconditional love and fear, sin and our egos. She talked about spirituality in a way I had never heard before. For the first time in my life, I felt someone was giving me the straight scoop about spirituality - something that resonated in both my mind and my heart and lined up with my life experience to that point.
That teacher was Marianne Williamson. I attended her Sunday services for the next four years and read her powerful book, A Return to Love, which I consider sacred text.
And here we are now: on a journey to create heaven on earth through the Awakening Movement, because Marianne pointed a lost soul in the right spiritual direction more than 25 years ago. I will always be thankful to her for that.