The Great Mystery
Even though I have believed in some sort of higher power all of my life, the naming has shifted over the years. “God” was the most dominant, beginning with the moment I accepted Jesus as my Savior at five or six years old.
It was during my twenties when my world opened. I went to college, lived in cities, embraced my sexuality, and met more people of other and no faiths. My bookshelf has been littered with all kinds of spiritualities and philosophies, from A Course in Miracles to the Enneagram to Braiding Sweetgrass and Buddhist scriptures.
I have called this higher power Spirit, Source, Creator, Ground of Being, Gaia, Mother Nature.
In the last few years (I’m now 37) I’ve explored more of my heritage on my mother’s side. My great-grandmother was part Potawatomi and my parents added me to the tribal rolls of the Citizen Potawatomi Nation when I was born. It wasn’t until the last eight years or so that I explored this aspect of my own lineage.
The tangible, yet ethereal nature of the world has always captured my imagination. As a kid, my parents took me and my sisters on summer vacations across the United States, hitting National Parks, like the Grand Canyon, Yellowstone, Carlsbad Caverns, Zion, the great sequoias, and more.
While living in New York City, I was introduced to and fell in love with the writings of nature-poet, Mary Oliver. Her revelations of the natural world entranced my being, opening up a part of my heart and soul that is drawn to this home, our planet.
Through different writings and epiphanies, I’ve become most comfortable with the term The Great Mystery. Sure, it’s not as pithy as “god”, but for me, it brings my attention back to the Earth, while still holding on to transcendence.
The Great Mystery (Wakan Tanka) speaks to all the things we do not know while also acknowledging the experiences we encounter in daily life. There was a time in my life when fundamentalist, black and white certainty drove my faith. Age and life have since melted away those certainties for a much softer, gentler curiosity.
While part of us as human beings craves to “know” what is going on, if we get honest with ourselves, our experiences and life journey is filled with mystery and uncertainty. It’s only looking back when we try to make sense and connect the dots.
I am drawn to The Great Mystery because of the spaciousness — the breathing to simply be with what is. Less intellectualization, more presence. Less doctrine, more curiosity.
My heart feels more generous and loving viewing a higher power with this name. There’s less defensiveness and tendency to say I’m right. There’s more room to hear about other people’s journeys.
My name for a higher power has shifted many times and I imagine it will many more times as I continue in this life. But for now, The Great Mystery is where my heart and soul feel at home. ▪️