Here at Owning Pink, we talk a lot about “the Universe”, which we all know is code for “that Divine being we will leave unnamed so that Pinkies of all creeds and faiths may insert the name of who they worship.” But today, I’m going to talk about the Divine Being I know and love- and for lack of a better word, I’m going to call this being God. When people ask me to define my religion, I say, “Buddha is my homeboy but Jesus is my favorite.” Which pretty much makes people laugh and then they drop the question. The Dalai Lama says, “My religion is kindness,” and that certainly resonates with me. But it doesn’t quite go deep enough for me (no offense, Dalai Lama- I love you!)
Exploring My Personal Faith
So what is my personal religion? Who is God to me? Uh…I’m not sure. I’m still trying to figure it out (no biggie). This weekend, the Pink Tank gathered together to dream up what’s next for Owning Pink, and while they were here, Pink Goddess Dana and I were talking about this oh-so-important question. Dana said, “What if God is neutral?” And I stared at her blankly, the way I usually do when someone starts referencing abstract concepts in the same sentence as the word “God.” For me, God is love- and God is SO easy to understand.
You Don’t Have to DO God
Not long ago, my mother wanted to take my 4 year old daughter Siena to church and Siena said, “But Nana, I don’t know how to DO God.” For 3 seconds, I felt like a bad Mama. Have I failed to instill within my daughter a belief in the Divine? But then I realized that none of us need to know how to DO God. It’s no wonder Siena said what she did. After all, most of us are raised to believe that God is something you DO- by saying the catechism, by reciting the Torah, by singing from the hymnal…you know the drill. But what if this simply isn’t the case? What is God is bigger than any action? So I told Siena that she already knows God, even if I haven’t taught her the Lord’s Prayer. She nodded and said, “I know God in my heart.” Amen, sister.
My Personal Religion
It got me thinking. What is the nature of the Divine? Why is it that I have such profound faith but have never taken my daughter to church? What is MY religion? What can I teach my daughter that feels authentic to who I am and what I believe?
I’ve tried to find a church home. Raised in the Methodist church, I never fit in. I grew up loving Jesus- and I still do. I mean, seriously, the dude is pure love. What’s not to worship? A humble human being served his calling with Divine grace and the world persecuted him. All he wanted to do was show up how love could heal the world. And we went and bastardized it- killing people in his name. As Anne Lamott’s bumper sticker says, “Who would Jesus bomb?” I mean, seriously. Jesus rocks.
A Loving God Wouldn’t Punish
But something about the religion of my childhood never quite worked for me. My faith told me that Jews were going to hell because they hadn’t accepted Jesus Christ as their personal Lord and Savior. But some of my best friends were Jewish. And they were loving, faithful, loyal servants of God. If God is love, how could God punish such beautiful beings by damning them to a fiery eternity?
I was also taught that those who do accept Christ will go to heaven, where we get to chase butterflies, eat everlasting lollipops, cartwheel down roads of gold, dance with angels, and hang out with all the other faithful souls we have lost in life. If only we are GOOD, we will be rewarded. The God I was raised to know plays favorites. If you follow all the commandments, give 10% of your income to the church, and do good deeds, blessings will come to you.
But this never seemed to be true. Over and over, I watched bad things happen to good people. So if God rewards the faithful, why do the faithful get cancer, have their babies snatched away from them, or get raped and beaten up by their husbands?
What If God Is Neutral?
So what if what Dana said is true? What if God neither rewards nor punishes? What if there is Divine Purpose and events that happen are simply in service to that? What if God represents the highest possible vibration, the purest essence of love, the capacity within us all to live in line with the Divine? What if bad things simply happen because they are part of a complex puzzle that makes up the highest good for the most people at that particular moment in time?
This is where it starts to get fuzzy for me. But I’ll take a shot at it. If God is neutral to individual events and we can’t earn our way to blessings, heaven, and reward, why are we here and what is our moral compass? If God doesn’t punish us for mistakes we make when we are out of integrity and not serving the highest good, who will hold us accountable? Maybe that’s why we’re here, to figure it our for ourselves and help each other along the way. What if we’re meant to hold each other in check. To hold up the mirror to see more clearly what holds us apart from God and needs to heal. To celebrate the joys and relish in gratitude. What if God has given us the responsibility and capability to align ourselves with Divine Purpose when we’re ready? What if God simply guides the Divine Purpose without judging us one way or another? When I think of it, I smile. Now THAT is the kind of God I want to teach my daughter about.
I believe we are here to serve our Divine purpose, that each of us has a mission in life, that each of us serves a calling. We are all vessels for this Divine, loving Creator, and the more we clear ourselves of our crap, the more the channel is open and God can radiate through us. But that’s just me…
What Do YOU Believe?
What about you, Pinkies? What Divine Being do you know? How do you connect with the Source? Does your religion raise questions you can’t answer? Is it okay to simply have faith without having organized religion at all? Could Owning Pink become our spiritual home, a gathering place for those in service to a Divine Being that nurtures us as we serve the greater good? Can I teach Siena to “Do God” by simply letting the Divine flow through her as she serves her life’s purpose with love? Can we talk about this with open minds and open hearts, reserving judgment and making room for all of us to explore our beliefs in a safe, sacred space?
What do you think, Pinkies?
Worshipping love,
Lissa
