I was fortunate to have been born into a family of \u201cfreethinkers\u201d. My lineage is abundant with people who have challenged the ruling class, either following the route of other contemporary or historical individualists, or making their maverick way, blazing trail through the dense forest of unconsciousness with a tool fashioned by their own hands, journeying for many miles and perhaps many moments with little or no encouragement.<\/p>\n
Although I have understood that many of my ancestors were Seekers \u2013 intelligent, passionate, fiery, courageous and determined \u2013 I never got the impression that they were rebellious for rebellion\u2019s sake. I believe they wanted to find Reasons for Being that made sense to their heart and to their mind. And yet I am certain the paths they chose were not easy ones to walk, and that they clung to those people, places and things that represented and reflected back to them the universal truths<\/em> that whispered within them.<\/em><\/p>\n Of Cherokee, English, Irish, Scottish, Welsh, German, Dutch, and Finnish heritage, I can only imagine what immense challenges and heartbreaks my relatives faced \u2013 and I can only imagine what yours have faced as well \u2013 and continue to all over the world, where people are still punished by death (or worse) for what they believe is their highest dream, grandest idea, most expansive, life-supporting hope for how it could actually be on this planet if we all lived in harmony with one another and all life forms.<\/p>\n I wonder how many of my relatives were \u201cpunished by law\u201d or put to death by a deep need to live in alignment with who they felt themselves to be; how many were burned at the stake, or hung or imprisoned because they just couldn\u2019t agree with slavery of any kind, <\/em>or holocausts of any kind, <\/em>or separatism of any kind<\/em>, or the concept of a god that wouldn\u2019t love us if we blundered and stumbled our way through life, trying to figure it all out.<\/p>\n To sin<\/em> literally means \u201cto miss the mark\u201d. I\u2019d say that\u2019s fairly easy to do at least a few times a day \u2013 even on our best <\/em>day \u2013 not to mention over a whole lifetime. So, I\u2019m guessing that I\u2019ve come from a long line of Sinners and Heretics: people who probably just couldn\u2019t understand why wanting the authentic best for themselves and for all sentient beings was so wrong \u2013 like so very many of us wonder. And why any god we believe in can\u2019t be a loving god, inclusive even of other gods; other concepts of Wonder and Awe and Mystery\u2026<\/p>\n