Over the course of my strange and delightful life, the word 'God' has changed meanings many times. When I was young I mostly used my Mom and Dad’s definition of God which was basically the "Great Out Doors."  I remember the joy of muddy creeks, tide pools, mountain streams, campfires, and a big backyard full of raspberry bushes.

“Forgiveness, which takes you back to the person you were and lets you reset them. Hope, which exists in a future in which you are new. Forgiveness and Hope are miracles. They let you change your life. They are time travel.” - Kaliane Bradley

It’s been a while since I gushed on my primary partner, Jesus Christ (Don’t worry, my husband knows). Jesus accomplished a lot in his 3 or 4 short years of ministry. He was a teacher, a healer, a defier, a rapscallion, a delightfully funny avatar, and a truly powerful being. One of his two favorite things to do - the other being constantly eating - was to cast out demons.

There’s a curious phrase at the beginning of the 12th step of the [insert your drug of choice] Anonymous program. It says, “Having had a spiritual awakening…” and I didn’t even notice it until I was years into my recovery and finally at the 12th step with my sponsor. We were sitting in a coffee shop in downtown Denver talking about what it means to complete the steps.

To the left of the serpentine belt it said, “This drive belt keeps all your vehicle systems running. If it breaks, you will not go.” Now, me being a minister, I simply cannot resist a brilliant metaphor like that. I thought of all the ‘vehicles’ in my life and began to wonder about their serpentine belts, without which the thing would not go.

The most amazing thing I’ve learned in the past 10 years of being a minister/psychic/healer is that nobody’s doing it wrong. What’s the ‘it?” Well, life and everything in it, of course. Now this idea has come slowly and taken a long time for me to really believe. I can look around even today and be nearly certain that at least some if not most of these people are doing it wrong.

The morning of the wedding I committed to saying only the most true, most loving, most powerful words I could to each and every person I spoke with, from the catering staff all the way up to my husband-to-be. Luckily, speaking true, loving, powerful words is easy to do on a wedding day since that's kind of what the day is for.

Ever done a fourth step inventory in a recovery program? I’ve done a few at this point; they get more fun as you go along but they sure don’t start that way. The fourth step (“Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves.”) is intimidating as all get out and it’s the one where folks either dive in or stall out.

Forgiveness wasn’t something that even felt necessary before this. But slowly I realized that it was the narrow gate through which I must pass if I was to continue on in my spiritual journey. And damn I hated that.

I had the great privilege of working as a hospice chaplain right out of seminary. This was something of a crash course in ministry as there’s nothing quite like death to frame the truth of life.

For me, this Logos (which we translate rather flatly as the “Word”) is the unimpeachable divine sacred order of the Spirit of Life that fills the whole universe with Her melody. Whether you’re a quantum physicist, an ancient Boddhisattva, or a modern seeker you will know intuitively that the great frequency of the Universe is a song.

Every so often I’ll post something Christian on social media. I always aim to share some little tidbit of spiritual wisdom but I try and be judicious about the Jesus-specific stuff. Why? Because hell hath no fury like a Christian troll.

I love a good false idol. You know, the kind that seems like it can fix all your problems, like it’s got the answer you’ve been waiting for, like it’s some secret elixir that’s going to change your whole life…?

Honestly my plan was to just kind of fudge my way through the required Bible classes at my affordable Christian seminary then head across the street to the more expensive liberal pagan-ish seminary and take the really important classes like “Magic, Sex, and Liberation in Hindu Tantra,” “Revolutionary Witchcraft” and “Advanced Topics in Meditation.”

For many years I valued belonging over being treated well or being my full self. But eventually, as I started growing emotionally and spiritually, I would trade up these too-small agreements and find a bigger belonging….

I don’t have any answers for the enormity of human suffering we’re seeing on this planet. And it’s the hardest part of any client session, or sermon I preach, or workshop I offer; that moment when someone asks “How can there be a God when there’s so much evil in the world…?”

My fellow chaplain shared that she could always count on death to give great advice. Like, the very best advice every time. She said she always felt the Spirit of Death slightly back and to the left of her. Whenever she was at a crossroads she would turn and ask for help…

I used to be a relationship control freak. I wanted to control every aspect of every relationship in my life while desperately trying to pretend that I was extremely laid back and cool. It was pretty much a full time job and not very spiritually or emotional mature…

It’s taken me a few years and many false starts but I think I’m finally beginning to discover what happens after I drop the bad attitude. I get to actually enjoy my life. As in, bring joy into to my very being and use it as a kind of mode of transportation on the path of life…

Modern day Lent is bracketed by Mardi Gras and Ash Wednesday on one end, and Easter weekend on the other. So, it’s a big deal. But does there really have to be so much suffering? If you know me, you know my answer. Hell no! Suffering is almost certainly the opposite of what God wants for us….