interviews

K.j. Reynolds on "The Spirit."

K.j. Reynolds is a Spiritual Counselor and has an Online Ministry called, "Spiritual Sanctuary". She has had a Counseling Practice in Colorado Springs since 1995. She's taught Science of Mind courses, staffed workshops, and served as a licensed Practitioner of Religious Science. She traveled to England and Ireland on Spiritual Pilgrimage - exploring the Divine Feminine and Her places of power on the planet. This year she served as assistant in England.

K.j. is a writer, singer/songwriter, artist, wife, and mother of two. She wrote a regular column for the "One Voice" publication for three years and currently does freelance work. She is author of "Love, Anxiety, and Other Musings" a book of poetry, and co-author of, "The Women’s Lodge" a workbook for Women Circles. Currently she's recording an album honouring the Divine Feminine. Visit the Spiritual Sanctuary to learn more.

Tammie: In 1995, you embarked on a spiritual pilgrimage to England. Can you tell us about that experience?

K.j.: I’ll try to keep this answer as brief as possible, but the truth is, it’s a loaded question. In 1994, I was in Practitioner Studies through the United Church of Religious Science to obtain my Practitioner license. My teacher was Rev. Charllotte Amant. Something about this woman inspired me into deeper levels of my own Self. She had a unique way of teaching, a receptive, wise, quiet way of allowing us to find our own answers. She shared information when she felt it appropriate, and provided a foundation of Spiritual Consciousness that supported the students in raising our awareness. Many times she taught us with questions instead of answers.

Rev. Charllotte led Spiritual Pilgrimages to England and one was approaching in the Spring of 1995. Up to that point, I never felt drawn to England, especially on a Spiritual Journey, but for some reason, I began to hear a Calling within.

I was adopted at birth, and at that point in time, I was searching for my birthmother. There was an empty hole inside that I believed came from not knowing my roots. Intuitively, I sensed my heritage to be Irish and English (at least in part). Something within me felt sure that if I touched foot on the soil I came from, I would sense it, know it viscerally , and perhaps this might fill the void I felt in my soul. The Pilgrimage was "In Search of the Divine Feminine". We visited Sacred Sites. I see these sites as part of the Sacred body of the Divine Mother, our Mother Earth, so I thought this was precisely what I needed, since I was searching for "Mother" and my roots.

This Pilgrimage profoundly impacted my life. I not only re-discovered the Divine Feminine in the landscape, but the Goddess within mySelf. I received a freedom in my female body I’d never felt before: Free from the constraints of societal pressure and expectations - Free from my own self-induced limitations - Free from lack of esteem and constant concern for what "others" thought of me. I became my own woman. I found HerSelf within me.

The Pilgrimage also gave me the sense of heritage I had searched for. When my feet touched the England soil, I did feel the comfort of home, but this feeling of home elevated into an inconceivable coming home once I reached the glorious coastal town of Tintagel. Everything felt anciently familiar. I felt as if I had always been there. I felt lifted and full of joy. Leaving was extremely emotional and painful for me at the time because for the first time in my life, I felt a familial connection.

On a note of confirmation, five months after returning back to the states, I actually located my birthmother and found out I have ancestors from Coastal Cornwall, which is where Tintagel is located.

Many songs were born on Spiritual Pilgrimage as the landscape seems to "sing" through me while I’m there. I am currently recording these songs in the studio, and the CD should be available for purchase in late September of this year.

Tammie: You've written that the good news is grace. What do you mean by that?

K.j.: Ah, Grace. Many of us in the West have been taught that we are born sinners, that we come into the world in a state of spiritual need. We were taught that somehow we came into this world "bad". I believe we were all born into a state of Grace. I’ll explain further:

To sin, literally means "missing the mark" and its derivation is an old Hebrew Archery term. As humans, we are bound to miss the mark throughout our lives and make mistakes, but how can simply being born into this world be a mistake? If we believe we are at choice about whether we incarnate, then there is no mistake. How can an infant be born into sin? Certainly our world has plenty of people who are everyday making mistakes and "missing the mark", but the child, herself, is not born of sin.

Grace is the moment in time when all things are made new, the moment in time when our slates are wiped clean in an instant, and we have the opportunity to live our lives to their full potentiality. We are always forgiven, in every moment, by the Christ consciousness that dwells within us all. All that is needed, or required, from us is to accept this forgiveness for ourselves, within ourselves. We are already forgiven. We are swimming in Grace. It’s all around us, It’s here and It’s now. It is THIS moment in time, NOW. Even though we may feel unworthy to receive Grace, It happens anyway - in the face of our self-beratement - because we are children of the Most High; therein lay all the merit in the universe.

…So the good news is, no matter how hard we are on ourselves, no matter how difficult and insurmountable the situation may seem, no matter how awful our mistakes are, there is an All-Loving, All-forgiving Presence that forgives us every second of everyday and we just need to become of aware of it. With an ounce of willingness, we can accept Grace, and our lives can be made new - instantaneously! It flows over you like a pristine waterfall, purifying your soul. That’s Grace!

Tammie: What impact has creation spirituality had in your life?

K.j.: There came a time in my spiritual growth when I could no longer deny a deep connection I felt to the Master Teacher Jesus, the Christ. I previously avoided any association with Christianity because of the negative connotations it evoked for me: Judgmental, compassionless, and using the name of Jesus to proselytize and criticize people and their way of life.

Creation Spirituality was a door opening, inviting me to see the good in the Bible and the beautiful message Jesus taught. It provided an avenue for me to discover the gift of so many role models I had previously been unaware of: Women Christian Mystics, such as Mechthild of Magdeburg, who lived her life dedicated to her spiritual Awakening and ministering to others who weren’t necessarily "religious" or accepted by the formal Church. Her poetry fills my heart with gladness and gratitude for the Great Mystery. She knew how to allow the Holy Spirit to flow through her, and had a gloriously intimate relationship with It. Creation Spirituality says we are all worthy of this movement through us, we are all worthy of this relationship.

Tammie: Do you believe that pain can be a teacher and if so, what are some of the lessons your own pain has taught you.

K.j.: I believe anything can be a good teacher - it all depends on how willing we are as students.

We can go through life seeing everything as either a blessing or a curse - or as it just "Is". I have experienced plenty of pain in my lifetime, physical and emotional. What I’ve received from pain is the amazing confirmation that no matter how dark and black and hopeless life may seem, there is always light and joy on the other side of it. In Truth there is no difference between the depths of pain and the heights of joy. Each exists at the deepest part of our soul, each can build our faith, and each can bring us closer to God if we allow them. What "Is" remains motionless and untouched by our sways of emotion. From this center spot we can observe the depths and the heights and remain unattached.

Tammie: How would you describe counseling for the spirit? What does it offer that traditional psychotherapy doesn't?

K.j.: The way I see it, Spiritual Counseling approaches healing the mind, body, and soul. In the past, conventional psychotherapy and psychiatry have tended to neglect a very integral and significant part of our wholeness . . . our spirit. To look at healing the whole self, we must address this essential part of our being. In truth, it is not part of our being, it is our being. Our minds and our bodies reside within our spiritual body.

In Spiritual Counseling we not only discover what the mental cause is behind our current situation, we look at how we can create our current situation differently if we so desire. We look at Universal Laws that have been in operation since time began, and learn how to use those Laws consciously and in a way that supports our manifesting the life we desire.

Tammie: If your life was to be your message, then what message do you see your life being?

K.j.: Wow…what a great question! I think everyone should ask themselves this question on a regular basis.

My message would hopefully be:

~ See and find the good in all things, situations and people.

~ Be Love, see Love, give Love, receive Love.

~ Be willing to continue looking at how we create our worlds, and since we create our worlds, we may as well create them to be magical, mystical, and fun!

~ Always move towards a Conscious Awareness of Peace.

~ Appreciate and be grateful, for even, and especially, the simplest things are joy-filled!

~ Forgive, yourself and others - daily.

~ Don’t allow your past to define you.

~ Don’t allow your looks to define you.

~ Don’t allow your job to define you.

~ Don’t allow your culture to define you.

~ Don’t allow your politics or opinions to define you.

~ Be Who You Are and nobody else!

~ Laugh! Cry! Wake up!

~ Go For It!"

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