A Letter to our Congregation

A Letter to our Congregation

A Letter to our Congregation 1050 618 Seal Beach Center for Spiritual Living

A Letter to our Congregation

Rev. Nicole Von Atzingen

Dear beloved community members & friends,

I am currently sitting in the sanctuary while writing to you. I wonder how long it has been since you’ve been here. Are you ready to come
home? Take your time. Breathe into it. Some things have changed, there is definitely more hand disinfection, but the very best parts of
our Jewel by the Sea are certainly still here. In this moment I am
challenged to express what I am experiencing. I feel so deeply that
sometimes there just aren’t words. I suppose it could be summed up
with I love you, I miss you, and I want us to be together again.

It’s been 14 months since we were all together. I’m sure there are those who have thrived in a forced slowdown, who have grown closer to their families and finally got the chance to catch up on some Netflix. I am also sure that there are those of us who have moved through anxiety, fear, depression, and loneliness, who have or are wandering in the valleys of shadows or the infamous dark night of the soul. I would be remiss not to mention I personally would fall into the latter.

I know that in the end everything turns out to be a blessing, as has this last year. But honestly, only because I had to question everything. Why? How? Where did I go wrong…?

And then I remember. And it’s feels like, “Oh yeah. That’s right, Nicole.
This is that thing called life.” Life happens amid us, within us and is
happening all around us. Like it or not.

And so, I continue to move from chair to chair, reminiscing and remembering what it feels like to be in this room with us all together. I am reminded of the love and grace, the peace and compassion, that
penetrates and saturates the air we breathe here, the seat I am sitting in and the walls which keep me in their embrace. It is because of the
consciousness of every one of you, of us, the consciousness which
heals the sick and feeds the poor and turns water into wine
metaphorically speaking, that my life is always lifting me in a forward
upward motion. I have faith that because we are all so intrinsically
connected the healing presence, I feel is with you too!

I can’t wait to see your faces, to hear your stories, to reconnect with
you, or maybe finally have the opportunity to get to know you better.
I know that when we share ourselves, our own unique kind of joy,
passion, creation, we are answering the soul’s call. Carl Jung said,
“who looks outside, dreams, who looks inside, awakens.” The soul’s
call is this deeply intimate, challenging, exponentially powerful, and
globally beneficial work we are invited to do daily. All that’s required
is that we show up. For ourselves, for our community, and for each
other.

With the deepest love,
Rev. Nicole

Rev. Nicole Von Atzingen

Nicole is the Co-Senior Minister at the Seal Beach Centers for Spiritual Living. Her ministry is to remind humanity of its inherent Goodness. One word to describe Nicole is enthusiastic, she is filled with Spirit and loves to share it. She is also a fourth-generation Religious Scientist who admittedly, although growing up in the Science of Mind philosophy, had to walk away for a few years in order to discover the truth of our philosophy in her own life.

(Featured Photo used in the blog by Melissa Askew on Unsplash

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