Title: Spiritual Activist

Gender: Male

Age: 58

Sun Sign: Cancer

Chinese Sign: Metal Rabbit

Location: Austin, TX

I am 57 years old (at the moment in this present incarnation) and live in Austin, TX with my wife, a dog and a cat. I have a 24-year old daughter who also lives here in Austin, and a now ageless daughter on the 'other side'.

It was her death by antidepressant-induced suicide at age 12 in Jan. 2000 that put me on the spiritual path that has led me to the Gaia Community as well as a number of other places/stages/states that I would have never imagined myself to be in.

I have wanted to “change the world” since I was 18, but I became so lost, so lulled into a trance-like sleep by the illusions and self-created struggles of the materialistic world that it took a tragedy like Caitlin's death to wake me up.

Now that I am at least partially awake, I want to spend the rest of my days helping to awaken others, so that working together, coming from awareness and consciousness, we can indeed change the world.

Of course, I realize that if I want to be effective at all in changing my outer world, I must first change my inner world. So as of late, I have been meditating a lot and studying both ancient Mystery School (Rosicrucian) approaches to spirituality and mysticism as well as contemporary sources such as the writings of Neale Donald Walsch, Abraham-Hicks, Ken Wilber and most recently, Eckhart Tolle. 

I've also found myself getting hugs from Amma and Deeksha from the Oneness Movement people - examples of places I would never have imagined myself being a few years ago.

But I have come to believe that Life is about Change and Evolution and you can't have Evolution without Change and Change always presents the opportunity for Evolution. And if you are open to it, both will lead to spiritual growth and eventually enlightenment.

I am excited to find that there are so many people with similar thoughts and interests, and am grateful to the creators of Gaia for making it possible for us to become a Community for the Greater Good.

This I Believe…

I believe there is hope for the human race. I wasn't always so sure. I grew up with monthly tests of air-raid sirens, public signs giving directions to the bomb shelter below the downtown post office, and duck-and-cover drills at my elementary school. (As if diving under my desk would protect me from a nuclear bomb!)

As an adult, I was encouraged by the end of the Cold War, but concerned by the continued proliferation of nuclear weapons, pollution, corporate greed, terrorism, etc.

Then on January 5, 2000, my beautiful 12-year old daughter, Caitlin Elizabeth McIntosh, died, suddenly, of suicide, caused by her prescription antidepressants. My concerns about the state of the world were at once displaced by an overwhelming sense of grief, loss and anger.

I knew I faced a crossroad. I could turn inward and drown in self-pity. Or I could find in this experience some positive thread to hold on to. I could allow my grief and anger to twist and contort me. Or I could reach out and help others by sharing Caitlin's story.

But how to move forward? It was as if I were frozen in time. I couldn't think, couldn't decide anything. I felt powerless.

It was Caitlin herself that snapped me out of my grief-induced stupor through a series of what I can only describe as psychic phenomena. Caitlin found ways, some subtle, and some quite explicit, to tell me that life-after-death is a fact. And this knowledge gave me the courage to move forward in a positive direction.

It also put me on a new spiritual path. I had been an agnostic and skeptical of an afterlife. I could not dismiss God so easily now, knowing that the afterlife exists. But what was the nature of this God that the reality of Caitlin's death was forcing me to face?

After much reading and reflection, I came to believe that God is not a judgmental Deity who condemned Caitlin to death, but rather the essence of her life, or more specifically, the Energy that animates all Life. And the Essence of this Pure Energy is Pure Love - a Love that transcends death, and can manifest Itself through each and every one of us, if we choose to let It.

So I chose to turn outward. I facilitate a support group for people who have lost loved ones to suicide. I lead a discussion group on the New Spirituality and the “Conversations with God” books. I give talks, appear in documentaries, and have testified before the FDA about the great risk of giving psychiatric drugs to children.

And herein lies my hope for humanity: If I have the power to make these choices, so does everyone. We are not helpless victims of reality. For we all have Free Will, and therefore the ability to choose our beliefs, thoughts, words and actions to create a better reality - for ourselves and for our world.

This I believe.

As to how I put my beliefs into action in the world (aside from trying to be the best person I can in my day-to-day life), my current projects include presenting to any church who will have me a performance piece called “God Speaks: A Divine Monologue Based on the Writings of Neale Donald Walsch”. Here is a brief description:

That loveable Deity that converses with Neale Donald Walsch in his profound and thought-provoking “Conversations with God” series of books, comes to life in this entertaining monologue. Through excerpts from Neale's writings, God answers some of the Big Questions like “What is God? Who are we? Why were we created? What is our purpose?” The answers may surprise you, and you might even find in “Neale's God” a God you can believe in.

Condensing Neale's writings into a 40-minute monologue in a way that did them justice was an eighteen-month labor of love that culminated in the first performance at my church Oct. 22, 2006. It was very well received. I have presented it four times since, and I look forward to presenting it many more times in the years to come. If you would like to hear a reading of it, go to www.liveoakuu.org/audio/20061022_sermon.mp3. 

Another current activity that I am excited about, is serving on the board of The Free Souls Project (http://www.freesoulsproject.org/), founded by Rev. Chuck Freeman, which aims to become “a leading voice in the public square on Spirituality, Democracy, and Ethics in the struggle for the Soul of America, using the potent tools of mass communication”. Chuck is the Minister of Spiritual Life at Live Oak Unitarian Universalist Church in Cedar Park, TX and has been hosting a liberal talk show (www.soultalkradio.com/) on local community radio for the past 12 years.

Most recently, I have been trained to be a facilitator of the Awakening the Dreamer, Changing the Dream Symposium (http://www.awakeningthedreamer.org/) on environmental sustainability, social justice and spiritual fulfillment, sponsored by the Pachamama Alliance (http://www.pachamama.org/), and I'm also being trained to facilitate Celebration of Life Events, sponsored by Humanity's Team (http://www.humanitysteam.org/), a grassroots spiritual movement whose purpose is to communicate and implement the belief that we are all One.

And finally, I am slowly but surely making the glorious transition from the corporate business world to developing a practice as a Spiritual Events Facilitator and Spiritual Life Coach. My web site is www.spiritualfacilitator.com.

So this is what I'm up to as of  July 2008. I'll continue to update my profile as things change, which of course they eternally do.

                     

Member Since: Thursday, August 31 2006

Last Visit: 326 days ago.

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