In 2016, when I started the process of forming the Living Wisdom nonprofit, I didn’t know that soon there would be news of folks leaving traditional religion in droves and seeking spirituality free from dogma.
The conversation about diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging was not part of the mainstream dialogue.
Sacred Plant Medicines (aka “psychedelics,” or better Entheogens), were still often seen as “drugs,” and the Decriminalize movement was just starting to make waves rippling into the medical community.
I didn’t know that a pandemic would initiate an even more deadly worldwide pandemic of isolation and disconnect.
I didn’t know any of those things when I started the Living Wisdom journey, but I did have a clear message that inspired the creation of a community organized around the commitment to create safe and sacred spaces and opportunities to learn, heal, and grow together, welcoming the wisdom and perspectives of a diverse, spiritually oriented family, who want to be heard and stretched, and even more importantly, who want to live in and co-create a healthy society that provides a sense of belonging without any need to abandon the authentic expression of the soul.
As someone who never quite fit in, was always an outlier, (though graciously and mercifully, it was most often seen and rewarded as a gift), one of my greatest life lessons has been the exploration of belonging.
Belonging is one of the greatest human needs, so strong it has often overridden the deep, priceless wisdom and gifts that are uniquely held by each human. It has been leveraged to force a choice of survival over truth and freedom, and in this moment, not belonging is one of the most painful and prevalent human wounds.
I think it is clear to many of us that truth and freedom are, as much as belonging, even more precious and rare these days than many of us could have ever imagined.
So, I had no idea how valuable and necessary Living Wisdom would be back in 2016. I just knew that something greater than myself wanted me to plant the seed of belonging, truth, and freedom.
Each season brings greater and greater affirmation of the need for more safe and sacred spaces for diverse folks to gather, to share wisdom, to pray, to learn, heal, and grow together. A place where simply choosing to be with others in a good way is the key to belonging. A place where the authentic soul can express itself with receptivity and wonder.
That is the purpose of Living Wisdom, and if it speaks to your heart, you are warmly welcome to come and see if the way we do what we do sparks something good for you.
Visit us at: https://LivingWisdomChurch.org
Join our active community on Patreon.
Image by Candace Smith.
