Global Spiritual Awakening
A Shift We Can All Feel
Recently, we have been witnessing a global phenomenon of spiritual awakening and healing. It is not only for esoteric or spiritually inclined people. Even atheists and materialists are having spiritual epiphanies. According to a survey by Sophia Persephone Ambrose, an estimated 13 million individuals, about 3% to 4% of the U.S. population, are experiencing spiritual awakening. And this phenomenon is global.
From Ancestors to Answers: My Personal Path to God
I grew up in a typical Japanese Buddhist family and was accustomed to honoring our ancestors. When I was in elementary school, a missionary visited my small hometown and offered Bible study sessions for children. I remember attending once or twice, but I did not understand the concept of creation.
Years later, when I was in college, I began attending a Bible study group for native English speakers. I was not so interested in learning about the Bible, but it was an opportunity to brush up on my English. I often argued that God did not exist. Then, at one particular session, a woman in the group said: “Without God, how can you explain our bodies? We eat, digest, take what our bodies need, and discard what we do not need. How can you explain that trees know when to let their yellow and red leaves fall, yet they return to life the next year?”
I still remember that day vividly. That was it for me. From that moment on, I knew God existed, and my journey of searching for God began.
Old Wisdom for New Seekers: Thomas Aquinas and Belief
In my last blog, I wrote about St. Hildegard von Bingen, one of the 38 Doctors of the Catholic Church. Here I focus on St. Thomas Aquinas, another Doctor of the Church, who was an Italian Dominican friar, philosopher, and priest.
Thomas was born in 1225, during the lifetime of St. Francis of Assisi, in Roccasecca, Italy. He is considered one of the most influential thinkers in the history of Catholic theology and Western philosophy. Aquinas followed Aristotle. He brought Aristotelian ideas into theology and philosophy. His understanding of substance became a cornerstone for classical Christian thought about existence. His philosophy has influenced modern virtue ethics, aesthetics, and cognitive theory.
Thomas argued that God is the source of both the light of natural reason and the light of faith. His best known ideas include his Five Ways to show the existence of God, his virtue ethics, and his sacramental theology. In his view, every existing being is a combination of substance and attributes. This idea comes from Aristotle, who described substance as prime matter joined with form. There are three basic types of substance: God, spirit, and matter. Matter has quantity or mass and extends through space, while spirit has quality and no spatial extension. God is beyond space and time, with no limits in either.
Blessings We Overlook: The Freedom to Seek
Today, we are blessed with modern technology and key human rights, including freedom of movement, freedom of speech, and freedom of thought. It is easy to take these for granted. We often fail to appreciate their value because we expect they will always be there and remain available.
Some blessings are tangible, such as:
- An air conditioned home to live in
- Airplanes to travel across the ocean
- Computers and the internet to communicate with people around the globe
When a blessing is intangible and cannot be seen or touched, we are even more likely to forget it. Yet our most cherished modern blessings are freedoms, especially freedom of thought and freedom of speech.
Thomas Aquinas and his views were revolutionary for his time. Was everyone excited about his ideas? Of course not. Like almost every pioneer who changed how we think, he faced political pressure.
Fast forward to today. We have the freedom to think and to speak. We have the freedom to keep searching for God, or to deny God, and to connect with Him. I truly feel blessed to live in the present time, and I deeply appreciate those who came before me and paved the way.
Without freedom, I never would have discovered God, and the current global spiritual awakening would be impossible. These blessings did not appear overnight. They took humanity thousands of years to secure.
With Freedom Comes Responsibility
Let us not take our freedom and modern comforts for granted. Freedom comes with responsibility. As I use my freedom to connect with God and the Divine Heart, I accept the responsibility to carry it forward. But how?
As a convert to Catholicism, I want to keep growing in my faith. I love attending Mass, and prayer is an important part of my practice. I often pray the Rosary or a novena. As a card reader, prayer is my strongest tool. My opening before each reading is a prayer. I work with the energy of Mother Mary, Mary Magdalene, the Archangels, and other saints. In my view, they do not belong only to the Catholic Church. And the Church changes its views and opinions over time.
I have met many people, especially energy workers, who were hurt by the Church and left or were pushed out because of what they practice. They felt they had to choose one path or another. In some cases, they were forced to choose, and they still hold grudges because of it.
I refuse to choose one over the other, because together they form who I am, in both my physical and spiritual self. I appreciate my upbringing in Japanese Buddhist and Shinto culture, which helps me connect with my ancestors and with life after this world.
I do not have to believe what others tell me to believe, and neither do you. Freedom comes from God, and we all have the freedom to connect directly with Him and His Heart.
Without connection to the Divine Heart, all my practices are empty. Religions give us a foundation for spiritual life, but we must do our own work to connect with God and grow spiritually. I know that God works with everyone. We are all divine daughters and sons.
