I grew up in a family where religion wasn’t a part of family life. I know nothing of my dad’s side as it relates to religion. I don’t know if he was raised a Catholic. I don’t recall his making any comments about my not going to church. As for my mother’s side, I know that her mom was very Catholic. My mom told me that when her sister, Lucy, made a comment about the Pope—a negative comment—my grandmother slapped her.

My sisters went through the rituals of Catholicism. I wonder if that was because my grandmother was alive at the time and it was done more for her sake. However, my brothers didn’t go through the rituals of Catholicism, and I don’t know why that is. But I was never told that I had to go to church. There is a 10 to 20 year difference between me and my siblings. Was that a factor?

I remember as a teen I went to church two times—once on my own and once as part of my senior year activities. Both times it did not resonate with me. I just knew this wasn’t for me. I could not relate to it.

At that time, I was being exposed to spirituality through my mom, who was exposed to it by her sister—my Aunt Lucy, the Pope criticizer. It was a gradual thing and could have been the reason my mom didn’t have me go to church.

By the time I was a young adult, I was attending a different church on a fairly regular basis, and this time it did resonate with me. It was a spiritual-based church. Why did it resonate with me? I believe it is because it’s all-inclusive. EVERYBODY is welcome, even if you are of another religion. Spirituality can go hand in hand with whatever religion you practice. It includes being one with nature. It includes the Bible and different religions, whereas spirituality takes what is good and positive from the Bible and all religions and encourages growth and living life based on love, not fear, division, hell, and damnation.

I love being able to talk with God one on one, and I get answers. Maybe not always what I like, want, or expect—but always what’s best for me in the long run.

Early on, I didn’t quite practice it on a regular basis. I was more interested in hanging out with friends and going to dance clubs. It wasn’t something I would discuss—not even with friends. Once, when someone took spirituality for worshipping ghosts, I decided never to bring it up again. But I look back and think that I wasn’t a very confident person at the time. I am now, even though I still try to be sure a person is open-minded before I bring it up. The difference is that if they disagree, that’s fine. If they ridicule it, I don’t care. Now I may say something with a spiritual bent during a conversation, and no one really notices. Or, sometimes it really does give them food for thought.

I think it was because of my spirituality that I was able to deal with my mother’s passing. I didn’t find myself mourning for her, even when I was told that mourning can be delayed. But it never came. What I do know is that even though she was in a coma, she had told me that she never wanted to be in such a state, so I wanted her to be able to cross over and be free, and I told her that it was OK to do so. I knew she could hear me on a subconscious level.

So now I’m here at that crossroads of fear due to the current political situation and leaning on my faith to get through this situation. I’ve never been so afraid in my life—not only for myself but my family, friends, our country, and Mother Earth. Do I have the strength to pray for those who bring harm to others? Do I have the strength to not let the fear rule my life? Sometimes it’s a battle. And I look to my church for support and to re-energize, but I can also re-energize by being close to nature.

I see God in the expected and unexpected blessings I receive, big or small. Thank you for that great parking space! Thank you for that pet-sitting gig that paid really well when I was getting low on finances! Thank you for your protection, the roof over my head, the food on my table. I see God guiding me through intuition—when I listen to and follow it!

And then there are the Angel numbers. Numbers that pop up in your life consistently in sequence—such as 222, 1111, 2323, 555—are called Angel numbers, and this is one way that God, through his Angels, communicates with you. This started when I was around 50 and I’m now 64. It happens at least once a day and sometimes up to three times in a day. Yes, every day since I was 50. This isn’t even something I learned through my church. It just happened. When it first started, I did some research and that’s how I found that these were called Angel numbers. Each number has a specific meaning to it as to the message it is conveying to you. All I can say is that I do my best to follow the guidance, and it really helps to point me in the right direction with whatever I am dealing with in my life.

I also see God in nature all around me—from the millions of species and animals created to the oceans, mountains, and trees. Spirituality has made me so much more aware of my surroundings. It has made me appreciative and grateful and brought good things into my life, even though sometimes I don’t realize it at the time! And as I learned from spirituality, we are all connected. We depend on each other—from the bee and other insects that give us food from their pollination to the trees that make it possible to have clean air to breathe. And also to the people we cross paths with, whether long-term or short-term. I’ve met people who put me on the path to something beneficial or who provided clarity to a problem I was having. I would have just taken this with a grain of salt, but now, because of learning and experiencing spirituality, I can see these as blessings.

And this is why spirituality resonates with me. What a journey this has been!