For years I had been questing, endlessly searching—is there a God? I tried reading books on the different ways to call God (Creator, Higher Power, Divine, Universal Energy). I attended Native American ceremonies. I walked in nature where I found incredible peace. I read Peace Pilgrim’s “Steps Toward Inner Peace”. I attended Jewish ceremonies and Christian churches. I even tried praying. I believed I saw God’s light in my baby son, but I wasn’t sure. It felt like the more I searched the more confused I got. So where is this God?
One mundane day when I was cooking, I was playing Joan Baez, a musician I dearly love. She sang the now-famous civil rights song, “Oh Freedom, Oh Freedom, Oh Freedom over me. Before I’d be a slave, I’ll be buried in my grave, and go home to my Lord and be free.” Her piercing voice sparked a light, a voice inside of me. Before I knew what happened my heart was so full I thought it would burst. My body throbbed with the overwhelming joy I felt. Unable to contain myself, I threw open the doors, ran outside and was singing the song at the top of my lungs, along with Joan.
Who knows why I finally found God in this way, but that is how God chose to come to me. As far as the slave part, I had felt like a slave in my head, limited by my own perceptions. I instantly found God in that split second and I have never looked back.
—Kristine Kiser