‘Grandma, what’s God? Grandma, what comes after death?’
Raise your hand if you were ALWAYS interested in this spiritual stuff like Lorena was as a small adult (not a child, a small adult). Keep your hand up if your interest stemmed from a disillusionment of organised religion . . . perfect! Because this week we’re diving into how our religious upbringings (or lack thereof) sent us both on very different spiritual (and not-so-spiritual) paths, and yet somehow brought us to very similar outlooks in the end.
The episode begins with Kelly talking a bit about what it was like to grow up in a Lutheran household, going to bible study on Sundays, Jesus camp in the summers, and how their commitment to love eventually outweighed their commitment to any one particular religion or ideology. Lorena totally relates as she shares her experience of “going through the rites” as Kelly did, if to a lesser degree, and how it was her curiosity about the unknown and a search for connection that drew her down a different road. The two chat about how weird, yet normalised, organised religion is and exchange stories that are enlightening, humorous, and oftentimes confusing - especially when the actions of those they looked up to directly oppose what they thought we knew about God. Queue the dorky, teenage-rebellion phases!
Further on in the episode the pair get into how the west’s idea of religion seems to simultaneously imply that ethics are inherently oppositional AND synonymous to religion itself. Lorena connects her current reading of A Course on Miracles with her understanding of love and forgiveness from a Christian perspective and how often the two go hand in hand, and they both realise how their experiences with other religions such as Wicca, Buddhism, Shinto, and Islam shaped the perspectives they have on spirituality and interconnectedness today.
The episode wraps up with Lorena and Kelly reflecting back on how their current spiritualities developed in concurrence with mental health problems, and offer anecdotal testaments on the life changing benefits of meditation, tarot, plant medicine, connection and the thing that drives it all: love. After all, it’s your divine right whether you’re a witch, a Jesus freak, or God herself.
// Contact us for questions on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mindlesspodcast // Contact us for questions on Instagram: @mindlesspodcast // Music: Bad Snacks - Summer in the Neighbourhood; Andrew Langdon - Keys // Tarot readings with Kelly: @andimafuckinglibra on Instagram // Coaching & Breathwork with Lorena: https://www.lorenaschuth.com