Reclaiming My Spirit: Beyond The God Of Shame

What happens if the way you think about God is actually hurting you? We are in a crisis of Spirit. For a growing number of us, the images of God preached by traditional religions are irrelevant, confining, or downright toxic. As a result, we seek Sacred Consciousness in alternative spiritual systems, the limitless frontiers of science, or the healing embrace of nature. We may even deny the existence of Sacred Consciousness altogether. But even then, we find ourselves haunted by the same images of God that so repelled us in the first place. It seems no matter how far we push them away, how deeply we bury them, or how deftly we rationalize their nonexistence, these destructive images of God remain with us, casting a shadow over our lives and limiting our capacity for human connection and spiritual fulfillment. Clearly, before we can forge a new connection to Sacred Consciousness, we must first confront the negative image of God we already possess. In Reclaiming My Spirit, Rev. T McKinley describes how people of faith all make unique, personal images of God, which he calls eikons. Ideally, our eikons are conscious projections of Spirit - that of God within us - that attune us to Sacred Consciousness and empower us to bring our highest selves into the world. More often, however, our eikons are unconscious, rooted in a shadow side of fear, rage, and self-loathing. The result is a distortion of Spirit that disconnects us from ourselves, one another, and life itself. In this spiritual memoir, McKinley describes his own journey through depression and self-loathing, explicitly connecting his inner darkness to the eikon he created as a child. This "God of Shame" affirmed McKinley's mistaken belief that he was flawed, toxic, and unworthy of human connection. It reinforced his misguided conviction that he was hopelessly lost, and prescribed the ultimate punishment: eternal damnation. After all, if you think you belong in Hell, your eikon will certainly agree. The goal, then, is to get the Hell out. This process begins with reclaiming your spiritual authority to assess, revise, and even replace your eikon. If your conception of God empowers you to attune to Spirit and make a practice of compassion, justice, and service in the world, well and good. If, however, your eikon promotes separation, disconnection, and shame, you have work to do. With a characteristic combination of honesty and wit, McKinley provides a model for spiritual healing. Drawing upon a variety of interspiritual teachings and traditions, he outlines a process for revising how you think about God. He suggests practices to open you to new mystical experiences, reinterpret your received tradition, and explore your own life story to consciously create a new image of God, one that empowers you to manifest Spirit in the world. By consciously owning your eikon, you can be your own best spiritual authority, attune to the Divine, and shine the light of your Spirit on a world that so desperately needs it.

• | Author: T. Mckinley
• | Publisher: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform
• | Publication Date: Oct 31, 2016
• | Number of Pages: 140 pages
• | Language: English
• | Binding: Paperback
• | ISBN-10: 153554368X
• | ISBN-13: 9781535543682