I want to preface this blog by saying that I consider myself a “spiritual” person. I could easily be the one who drives around with the bummer sticker “COEXIST” or “God Bless the Whole World No Exceptions” on the back of her car. So, though I was brought up as a Christian in a Presbyterian church, by age 18, I was attending a Unity church, then a Science of Mind church, and currently I just hang out in the forest and gather my spiritual education from the trees (just kidding). I go where and when I am drawn to go.
That said, when I was 28 years old, I went to California with the intention of studying at Pacifica to become a licensed psychotherapist. Although that never happened, I received quite a different kind of education while living out on the west coast. I was immediately drawn to a church called Synergy – even though it was not my typical Unity or Science of Mind church – I was open to it, and just followed my vibe to go. Once there, I felt VERY called to get re-baptized. This surprised me to no end, but once again, I just went with it. My dominant feeling at the time was to “cleanse myself” of all the guilt and shame that I had been carrying around all these years. So, my second baptism, which took place somewhere in the Pacific ocean on December 9th 2012, was not about my connection to Jesus Christ at all (sorry Jesus), it was about my connection to myself – and the cleansing of the part of me that had been operating under false conditions and limiting beliefs. This baptism represented my declaration to myself that I would no longer allow the corrosive emotions of guilt and shame to direct the decisions of my life. And… it… was… LIBERATING!!!
I tell this story certainly not to offend anyone, but to share my personal story. I feel that sometimes we need a ceremony of significance to remind ourselves what really matters to us. And, I think you just have to be open to where your intuition guides you to be – even if it’s not your typical environment. Stay “open at the top” as Ernest Holmes says, and give yourself permission to do things differently.