The Unique Spiritual Path Of Being LGBTQIA+

So many times we are told – “I love you anyway.” This leaves us with an aftertaste of something being wrong with us. There is nothing wrong with us. So where do we go to feel that authentic and enduring love? We cannot wait for everyone outside of us to become aware of our value. People are overwhelmed with concern and fear about life in general, most people lean into their insecurities and are unavailable to themselves, much less others. And here we are clinging to the hope of external validation; we are looking for someone to love us authentically. Self-acceptance and self-love are key to the realization of authentic love. In this session, we will take a journey into that living, active and loving space that is a natural part of our being. Authentic love is natural to our way of being. It is available within us and all around us. It is saying to us – there is nothing to fix about you – there is nothing wrong with you. I love you always. In this recording, you will be asked to internally reflect on a few questions as we take this journey together. Those reflective questions have 5 seconds of silence following - you can choose to pause playback if you need more time.

As I looked for a church to go to and not have to hide I was gay, I sometimes felt disappointed. It wasn’t the same as being accepted by my old church. Why was this such a big deal? If my old church accepted me, it would make everything right! But that old church never did. Logically, we know that religious institutions can be based on fear and control. When you are exposed to its belief structure as a child, it becomes lodged in our ways of thinking about ourselves and the world. Even though I knew God or Spirit loved me – I had to ignore the old beliefs that would pop in my thoughts. Beliefs have a unique quality – even though they are not based on truth – they FEEL true. So how do you deal with that? EXPERIENCE! When you experience a truth or have a lived experience of how life really is – you don’t need to believe. The experience is so real that it validates itself. Experience is lived knowledge – and once expressed is not called into question. It is… it just is. There is no greater peace than that which comes from lived experience. In this session, we will experience our being beyond belief. Being gay is a path to Being God. You broke through societal beliefs to recognize who you are. That lived experience – that knowing – the recognition of our Being Gay (or knowing someone who is LGBTQIA+) built the framework for the recognition that we are also Being God. Together let’s have the lived experience of Being LGBTQIA+, Being God, .... Being. During the recording, reflective questions have 5 seconds of silence following for you to pause and answer.

As a child I remember hearing the verse in Genesis where it says: “Male and female created he them.” I remember thinking – ah so we are both and God is both too. But somehow, in Western culture, God has been presented as a white male and an alpha heterosexual. Defining God in this manner limits the perspective of what God is and our relationship with God.

 Self-expression and its many forms is God expressing the vastness of life and its many potentials. Honoring our own way of being allows our Spirit to flow more easily in our lives. Expressing our innate masculine and feminine energies is a spiritual path! Whether a person expresses as he, she or they – or expresses as masculine, feminine or androgynously – each nuance, each revelation evolves the personal self. The awareness of who and what God is evolves through self-expression.

What sometimes secretly holds us back - fear! How do we create safety when we cannot control the outside? In this final session, we will use our innate awareness of our true selves and connect deeply to our being. Our timeless being that is beyond the boundaries of gender – that evolves through self-expression – that is not separate from God and is the presence of God on this planet. God is we, God is they, God is you.

During this recording, reflective questions will have 5 seconds of pause for you to answer.