#UULent #liberation

There are different kinds of liberation. I want to discuss spiritual liberation. What does that really mean?

Different faiths have different definitions for spiritual liberation. I’ll leave it to you to research and decide what spiritual liberation means to you.

For me, I certainly felt a sense of spiritual liberation when I found Unitarian Universalism. I was in a safe space where I could explore paths outside of the Christianity I grew up with and the atheism I had since adopted. I was introduced to various pagan paths and found that spiritual liberation for me meant learning to let go of perceived boundaries between my body and the Earth, and to let myself fall into the rhythms and patterns of the natural world around me. Spiritual liberation can be found not just in intellectual exercises about the interdependent web of all life, but spiritual exercises, like meditation and art, that bring this very truth about our existence to our spiritual center so that we can feel it deeply.

Furthermore, Unitarian Universalism provided structure and guidance for my moral center, which is vital for one’s spiritual liberation. In UUism, I found Principles, and now Shared Values, which call me to be my best spiritual self. They support the release of my spiritual self from the prison that is built around one’s heart and soul when engaged in only criticism and judgment of others. That’s a white supremacy culture trait we need to let go of if we want our lives to flourish. By doing that, I could hear what I was truly being called to, what I really needed for my spiritual liberation—to love others so that I could also learn to love myself.

That’s when our story really begins unfolding and spiritual liberation is open to us. Or at least, that’s what I have found to be true and liberating for me.

(picture below is from my “Seasons of the Witch: Ostara Oracle” card deck by Lorraine Anderson and Juliet Diaz, illustrated by Tijuana Lukovic)