We are all one in God’s, and mother’s, eyes

Lynn Walker

June 12, 2010

My beloved 94-year-old mother wrote a book entitled “Jacob’s Ladder” because she grew weary of family and friends trying to convert her to their way of thinking. My mother is 100 percent Scottish and she makes up her own mind about things.

Here’s what my mother, Dorothy Wallace, wrote in the book: “Eventually water seeks its own level and so it is with people, or should be. We go off in so many directions seeking the best way to live, thinking we have found it. Then we try to make everyone go one way. Now, if we were all alike, it would be very simple.

“But God made us all different sizes, shapes, colors, genders and nationalities with different talents, tastes, needs, etc. We are all individuals; no two are alike, not even twins. So it stands to reason we should be free to choose what to do, how to dress, where to live, what to eat, make our own friends, create our own pleasures and find our own religion.

“No matter what you choose to believe, all ladders lead to God. You are free to choose the one you want. It is foolish to even try to convert everyone to go one way, especially when it leads to the same place. It may be different, but no better. We are all equal in God’s eyes.”

As a child, she gave me the freedom to discover my own spiritual path. On any given Sunday, you would find me in a Catholic Church, the black Baptist church or maybe the synagogue on a Saturday. As I grew, I went further afield to the Buddhist temples in Japan, read the Bhagavad Gita in Bombay, and the Quran while traveling through the Middle East.

After many years of seeking, one day in 1968 a dear friend gave me a life-changing gift, the “Autobiography of a Yogi” by Paramahansa Yogananda. In those sacred pages, my deepest questions were answered one by one.

After Sept. 11, I joined a wonderful interfaith group. There, I found some of my dearest friends in the Muslim, Christian, Baha’i, Sufi and Jewish communities. We are all one in God’s eyes.

My mother was my inspiration in letting me explore the world in my own way, and my faith in God grew ... because I saw that God is everywhere; in every heart, every church, every temple and cathedral — and even in the forest, all alone ... God is there. Thanks, Mom, for opening the window to faith and letting in all that light! And, thanks for writing in the book, “Jacob’s Ladder”:

“So let everyone be at peace with the ladder of their choice, to climb at his or her own pace and to go to God their own way. Don’t knock the rungs out of my ladder. Take care of your own ascension. Please let me go to God my own way. Only then will we have ‘Peace on Earth.’ Besides, one ladder won’t hold us all ...”

Om, Shanti, Amen.

Lynn Wallace Walker is a member of the Corvallis Meditation Circle in the Self Realization Fellowship. This column is coordinated by Lane Interfaith Alliance to offer inspiration, share personal spiritual experiences and bring a deeper understanding of individual faith perspectives with the intention of blessing our community and world. For information, visitwww.laneinterfaithalliance.org or call 541-344-0430.