Well there we were, almost 40 of us cozy Bowen Islanders all gathered up on a windy night at Bowen Island Yoga to talk about the Future of God. What the...? Come on, you’re thinking it… Just saying ‘the future of God’ out loud sounds a bit grand doesn’t it? and I’ll say it, kinda weird too. How can God have a future?
Aren’t we talking about the future of religion? Or the succeeding practice of faith? Or the coming understanding of spirituality? No, we were there to talk about God. We dropped the “G” bomb without sidestepping, packaging, apologizing or demanding. We opened up a potentially charged conversation and then did the unthinkable on Bowen, we dove into a hotbed of discussion and didn’t come out divided. Bizarre that a topic that can fire up countries to war with each other, here, becomes an awesome invitation to go out for the evening and really talk. I’m five years on this rock now, and I find it fascinating that we can drop the G word, but god forbid we mention Cape Roger… (don’t make me say it) or the herons above a whisper. There are some subjects that are simply too sensitive to bring up, even at night. The future of God is easier.
The evening welcomed three open hearted, well practiced, read, sincere, and highly passionate guests who have dedicated years to thinking about the nature of God, spirituality, integral theory and social change. Chris Dierkes is a soul interpreter, energy healer and spiritual guide. With a Masters in Divinity, years as a parish priest in the Anglican church, and a strong background in Christian mysticism and shamanic forms of consciousness, we could go just about anywhere with him and we did. His reach allowed for all thoughts to expand in the room and all opinions to unravel into questions rather than answers. Trevor Malkinson is currently completing his Masters of Divinity and will soon be ordained in the United Church of Canada and with his BA in philosophy and as a founder of Beams and Struts, an integrally informed online magazine (with Dierkes), the depth of conversation saw no floor and no need to find an end. Reverend Sophia Ducey has a passion for consciousness and spiritual practices for young people. She’s an ordained minister, speaker, teacher and counsellor. When Sophia opened a conversation, the whole room simply warmed up and went with her, wherever she took us.
The night was moderated by Shahar Rabi, who is currently completing his PhD in the Philosophy of Education department at SFU, and is the Program Director at the Orchard Recovery Centre here on Bowen. Shahar’s doctoral dissertation explores ecological and integral approaches to psychotherapy in recovery. His holistic approach and deep respect for personal belief systems and cultures allowed for fluid movement through the course of the evening. At one point early on in the night just after the official “panelist introduction”, the room took on a rather vacuous feeling with awkward pauses and stilted thoughts. Shahar let go of his well prepared agenda to follow Malkinson’s lead when he addressed the room, “You guys want to say something now right?”, and we did. Boy, did we ever. The evening had a pulse of it’s own and Shahar kept listening for it.
Before I dive into the conversation that was had, I need to mention the tender guidelines we were all given to ensure that the conversation be “safe, meaningful, and exciting” for all. It was requested that we “refrain from using terminology that may offend others or their beliefs”, and to pay attention to “our own internal reactions” as we enter into this “charged topic of which God is one of them”.
So what of this conversation: The Future of God? I was sitting on the floor in the front, and as an avid journaler, I kept grabbing sentences and concepts that struck me. So here they are for you, just as I wrote them, and in the way they hit me. Funny, as I pulled them together they kind of fell out onto the page like poetry. Here is the entire conversation in fragments. I hope you enjoy them as much as I did writing them down:
God,
Guilt,
Sun, Nature, Love,
Man in The Sky, Old, Energy...
If we’re not in awe, we’re not paying attention
There is transcendence in nature
as a place in us
an ocean of love tenderizing our hearts
The screen drops and we simply emerge
and a piece of me is going to have to let go
We are that.
that.
There is no wisdom on a bookshelf,
merely lessons
in the wilderness,
we resort to certainty
...and 40 or so of us just erupted. We let go with genuine, uproarious togetherness in a full on belly laugh. Now a good event opens well, but a great event closes with it’s own curtain. This was a great event, and the laughter might have been the god we were all there to talk about.
On Friday April 17th, Bowen Island Yoga is hosting a second evening as a follow up to February’s conversation. Now that you can say you’ve experienced the first one, I hope I’ll see you at the next. If you’re looking for me, I’ll be the girl up front with the fast moving pen and the messy journal hanging on every word.
