I live my life in the awareness that a tremendous power lies within us. It waits to be proudly awakened and profoundly utilized. Equally, I am aware of a tremendous power that lies within the unseen, simply waiting to acknowledged.
Since childhood, I have identified with the wise woman in the woods found within the illustrated storybooks. I find that what I most resonate with is her innate wisdom, her ability to draw from nature exactly the thing that will help you, and her belief in the things that can’t be seen.
Similarly, I try to live my own life as a channel for the Transformative Power of Grace and seek to walk the line between the visible and the invisible. My belief is that we are all called to contemplate what we can see and what we cannot. My call is to help make the invisible, visible.
“SO WE FIX OUR EYES NOT ON WHAT IS SEEN, BUT ON WHAT IS UNSEEN, SINCE WHAT IS SEEN IS TEMPORARY, BUT WHAT IS UNSEEN IS ETERNAL.” – 2 CORINTHIANS 4:18
I tend to refer to myself as a mystic. I believe that we all have the opportunity for direct access to, and union with, the Divine and that those opportunities appear for us again and again, day after ordinary day. My work is dedicated to shining a light on those every day, yet deeply profound, occurrences so that other’s may come to know their own God and traverse their own mystical experience.
For me, the Divine is too expansive for any one expression, though I do have a personal relationship with the Mystery, of which I call God. I simply wish to live my life with that God revealing itself to me in new ways day after day. Sometimes that revelation is through Christian prayer, sometimes that is a reverence for nature, sometimes that is Zen Meditation, sometimes that is a call to activism, and yes, sometimes that might be a stir of a pot and a twinkle of my nose. When pressed, I might respond that I am a Jungian-influenced inter-spiritual modern-day contemplative. All these varied practices represent, to me, a naturally resonant and responsible response to the glory of All That Is.
“NOT BY MIGHT, NOR BY POWER, BUT BY MY SPIRIT.” ―ZECHARIAH 4:6
Though I dedicated the first part of my adult life, my academic career, and my profession to Unitarian Universalism, I am compelled to say that I currently do not have a religious affiliation. I choose to contemplatively and organically live out my spirituality, allowing the Being in All to make itself known in its multidimensional and multifaceted expression.
“ANY GOD I EVER FOUND IN CHURCH, I BROUGHT IN MYSELF.”― ALICE WALKER
Since my continued education is in personal and spiritual development, I am able to translate diverse religious expressions into a deeply personal mystical experience that fuels my own understanding of the Divine and allows me to live a uniquely principled life tailored to my experience of a knowable yet unknowable God. This training and breadth of experience helps you too. I have an intimate understanding of many religious cultures and have a vast knowledge of where those religious traditions diverge and intersect.
When you are exploring and articulating your spiritual journey, I am able to deeply empathize with the steps that you are taking. My professional and personal experiences allow me to serve theists, pantheists, polytheists, atheists, agnostics, and more as an Integrative Spiritual Director.
The heart of my work is helping you connect with that which is greater than you in all areas of your life so you are able to live out the most authentic expression of you.
Alongside You,
Bethany Ward, Spiritual Director
