FAITH
I asked this question today:
What do you think of when you see/hear these words: Woman. Faith. Goddess?
Here is what I heard:
- Strength
- Hope
- The Beauty of Possibility
- Glorious, Benevolent Power
These answers tell me that my thoughts and feelings are not unique; that this growing awareness of something brilliant and divine is real; that there is a larger sense of a woman’s strength, a woman’s faith, a woman as goddess – inherent within and bearing witness without.
Here’s what I wrote earlier today…before I ever asked the question:
It takes faith to be a woman. Whether married or single, a mother or not, a lover and/or friend, self-employed, other-employed, or unemployed, a home owner or renter, physically fit or out of shape, old(er) or young(er), extroverted or introverted, religious/spiritual or atheist/agnostic, sister, cousin, aunt, daughter. Each of these spheres requires something more of us, takes something more from us, and calls forth something more in us. We need a faith that emboldens and invites the stamina, courage, and grace to press on, remain present, and move forward.
A Woman’s Faith.
This is not the Faith of our Fathers: a rock-solid, immovable system of belief in a male god, a hierarchical church, and all the tenets therein.
This is the faith of our Mothers: oft’ unknown and unnamed by them, but ours to carry, to name, to memorialize, to grieve, and to heal. This is a faith that is fluid, highly adaptable, feminine, and grounded in a belief in self.
A Woman of Faith.
This is a woman who knows, relies on, and makes her substance known/seen in every realm – living out loud in unconscious, gracious, natural ways. A woman who understands her power, her presence, her passion. A woman who imbues life and wisdom in every conversation and relationship. A woman who gives a resounding, “Yes!” to all things beautiful , tender, vulnerable, courageous, and justice-focused. A woman who risks everything for what/who she loves. A woman who sacrifices and suffers much on behalf of her own heart and the hearts of others. A woman who can see the impact and ramification of her words, her thoughts, her actions and chooses integrity, compassion, and generosity at every turn.
A woman who extends herself and others grace. Who does not hide in places of shame or silence; rather, can and will acknowledge her goodness (sometimes fleeting and floundering, other times bold and amazing) and her truest voice. A woman who knows patience – with self and with others.
A woman who is real. Afraid. Tentative. Hopeful. Dangerous. Weighing. Balancing. Walking a tightrope. Hanging on by a thread. Loving with abandon. Getting burned. Making mistakes. Achieving greatness one moment at a time. Believing in herself. Allowing others to lay oranges and offerings at her feet. Laughing. Weeping. Comforting. Knowing. Holding.
Woman. Faith. Goddess.
The Sacred Feminine with flesh. The power, knowledge, and beauty of the ages woven into her heart, her mind, her soul. Undaunted.
Daughter. Sister. Mother. Lover. Friend. Leader. Entrepreneur. Writer. Speaker. Voice. Body. Shedding blood. Birthing life. Comforting death.
The goddess within. Not an entity outside ourselves in which we place our belief, our trust, our hope. She is seen and experienced in a strength, a power, a beauty we know in our bones – even if only faintly, as an echo, a whisper, a breeze. This knowing, this belief, this faith is intuitive, resonant, and wholly ours. We imbibe it/her. We inhabit it/her. And she inhabits us.
Woman. Faith. Goddess.
Resonant and brilliant. You are making yourself known.
Have faith, woman. She is here.
- In Strength
- In Hope
- In the Beauty of Possibility
- In Glorious, Benevolent Power.
In Me.
In You.
What are your thoughts and responses to these words: Woman. Faith. Goddess? Tell me. I’d love to hear. The conversation is rich!
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{ 14 comments… read them below or add one }
I am overwhelmed at the power contained in those three words. It is a realization that is evolving very quickly for me these days. Women—this has shifted from a term of disdain to one of admiration as I am experiencing, finding, and focusing on goddess-y women rather than women who have lost site (or never knew) of their feminine divinity. It makes a huge difference in my pespective of being with and enjoying the company of women.
Faith–another major shift in my thinking. Faith for me is evolving beyond “belief in the unseen” into a trust that everything is exactly as it should be, that I am divinely led, and that I have all that I need. It is okay for me to question that which I have believed, and even release many of those beliefs while still having an abundance of faith.
Goddess—I am falling in love with this word. It resonates with wisdom, grace, beauty, compassion, power and moxy. I watched Avatar again this week, and was again struck by the awesomeness of Eywa, the Goddess. She is life, connected to everything, connecting everyone, a source of strength, a source of healing, the wisdom of the ages, the container of life force energy, the underlying rhythm of everything. She is a part of everyone and everything, and everyone and everything returns to her. Breathtaking.
Breathtaking indeed, Angie. The evolution in all three words. Your experience of all three. Your experience of the goddess in you. Breathtaking.
My son and husband were so excited to see Avatar, and were slightly disappointed in the story (too predictable for them apparently); I just went along for the ride and ended up being profoundly moved by the movie. It seems odd that I could have a religious experience watching a sci-fi flick, and yet I definitely did.
It’s true, that was definitely a living a vital vision of Goddess for me; and one that forced me to consider that She might be real, and just like that right here on this planet, in this reality…
Yours,
Megan
Megan Potter´s last blog ..Daring Mondays: Be
I still haven’t seen Avatar. Now, of course, I must. Thanks, Megan.
Yes, you must.
Bought it last night. Avatar is on the menu for this evening. And champagne, of course!
I kept trying to choose a sentence or two to quote as my favorites and could not just make a choice. I love all of this.
Off to wait on election results for Maine-Endwell school budget and Board of Elections. I may be having champagne with Aidan before the day is over.
Nicki´s last blog ..YES – Review of Life After Yes
It’s now 12:30 on your coast. ‘Hope you toasted Aidan. AND so grateful for your words…as always.
I toasted Aidan. Then, I had a toast to me as I was running for school board and won. Now, I am looking forward to a day on my own to just do what I want soon. Way too busy lately.
Nicki´s last blog ..YES – Review of Life After Yes
Woohoo, Nicki! So today – champagne Friday – I’ll be toasting you!!! Congratulations, woman. That school board doesn’t know what’s coming! All good…
Great Photo to accompany this post!
I love it Ronna. You say “Yes!… to all things beautiful, tender, vulnerable, courageous….”….
I am saying “Yes”.
I am also speaking with my “truest voice.” Fully aware that it can be “fleeting and floundering”, yet knowing, as well, that it is “bold and amazing, and real.”
Once again, you have written a beautiful piece. I always enjoy the way you articulate thoughts that I too have. I wish I was closer in proximity to enjoy your workshops.
We are, “Woman who are real. Afraid. Tentative. Hopeful. Dangerous. Weighing. Balancing. Walking a tightrope. Hanging on by a thread. Loving with abandon. Getting burned. Making mistakes. Achieving greatness one moment at a time. Laughing. Weeping. Comforting. Knowing. Holding.”
Lovely Ronna ♡ ~ Renee
Thanks, Renee. And my workshops? All virtual right now! All via A CONVERSATIONAL SPACE. Join us!!! SO appreciate your weaving in and out of the words I posted. Somehow, they take on different and beautiful meaning when wedded to your life. Thanks!
Emotions. I read this post over and over. Different times of the day, different levels of concentration.
So many emotions.
I got stuck, like a record skipping, again and again at the mention of the faith of our Mothers. There is too much to tell here, now, but to say that my disconnection from this is profound, deep and wounding. In real life, in every day life it rarely crosses my mind. I have left their world behind and forged ahead in a beautiful bold life of my own. But when I read your words, the emotions flood back, and they surprise me, some of them.
Today I am angry. Angry that I’ve had to nurture myself in so many ways to become the woman I am, when that was her job. When other mothers feel a love and a bond with their child so strong that their faith is magnified. And I felt only alone. And afraid.
I was disappointed today. Again. I’m angry at the DNA I got from her that caused that disappointment. My body is not the pillar of strength I imagine her to be. Rather the very strength of this body, in some ways, is its undoing right now.
I know this will pass, I will heal.
I know that I’ve taught myself how to find beauty, how to see the Divine, in all things.
And I will again.
Tonight it is a struggle.
You’ve said so much more. Identified so many of us, our strengths, our frailties (and so often these are the same), you remind me that all women are not her, that she is not all mothers. And I remind myself to breathe, to love myself, to be proud.
Tonight it is a struggle.
Tomorrow the sun will shine, I will see beauty, I will feel joy and love and strength and hope and accomplishment and tenderness and love.
I have faith this is true.
Hugs and butterflies,
~T~
PicsieChick´s last blog ..It Holds Me…. Hostage
Thank you. Your words are tender, honest, and true.
I’m sorry. For your pain, your sadness, your known harm.
I’m hopeful. You are wise, strong, and beautiful. The quickness and depth of your emotion reveals a heart that is alive, beating, and full of desire.
It is true. “All women are not her.” “She is not all mothers.” The gift? A faith of our Mothers that encompasses Woman throughout time – past, present, and future. A lineage and connection (at what feels like DNA level) to the many who have gone before, those with whom we have the gift of relationship now, and those for whom we forge paths, create life, and imbue passion. These are the relationships that heal our own; that invite what is yet to come.
Your faith is revealed here: held in the tension between truth and trust.
And you are held in the midst.