“God, thanks for helping me but I don’t need you anymore…”
As you can imagine, over the past few months I’ve had some fascinating (and heartbreaking) conversations with women as I’ve been researching the world of goddess worship for a new book. Several key questions continue to intrigue and haunt me as I talk to women and men who have either turned away from this type of paganism, or who are still in the thick of it. Here are some of my key questions:
- What led you into goddess worship?
- What do you find or experience there that you don’t find in the church?
- What is your understanding of Christianity?
- What do you think about Jesus? (If the person was previously a Christian or a churchgoer, I always
ask questions about their relationship with Jesus.) Was he a close friend … or more of an abstract concept? Something just read about in books or heard about from the pulpit? - Did you make a deliberate choice to follow the goddess, or did you just sort of drift into it?
As a child, I was always taught "once saved, always saved," but I wonder if the term Christian is that
simple and easy to define, because I’ve run across a number of pagan women who, if you had known them in their church days, would have certainly been defined by the evangelical definition as saved, as believers, as Christians.
It seems that many people in the church, who we would think of as Christians, and who might even define themselves as Christians, might just be drifting along in the stream of the religious community but never quite grabbing on to the lifeline that Jesus offers. Here’s an example:
I went to coffee with a lovely young woman, not quite 20. She’s articulate, creative, opinionated, sensitive, and searching. She grew up in the church, loved God, even helped teach Sunday school. She suffered through some major family problems, and ended up walking away from the church and embracing Wicca and goddess worship. She knows the Gospel, the Bible, the church, and Christianity. Yet, she doesn’t want it. Her thoughts on God:
"He was something up in the sky, far above me. I didn’t really know who he was." And
Jesus: "He was a wise man who lived a long time ago." She considered the Bible interesting but mostly irrelevant to her life.
And my last question? Whether she’s made a deliberate choice or just drifted into goddess worship? Here’s what she said: 
"On the day of my high school graduation, I prayed and said ‘God, thanks for helping me through everything. You’ve been there for me. But I don’t need you anymore. I’m going to follow the Goddess.’
And then, you guessed it. She prayed a commitment prayer directly to the Goddess:
"I’m going to follow you now."
For this one woman, it was a deliberate choice. But the cool thing? I got to share my faith with her. She asked me a few questions and listened, because I had listened to her.
God, reach out to her today and make your presence known. Soften her heart. Give her a little taste of your glory, your grace, and your love.
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SUSY FLORY is a writer, speaker, and journalist who inspires and challenges women to embrace a life of passion, boldness, & adventure. In your own unique way, YOU can change the world, starting in your own backyard. 
I completely agree with the fact that there are many people who are drifting in the Christian current. When Jesus spoke about the wide gate and the narrow gate, he was talking to the people who were following him, not the heathen. Also, we know that the Israelites are a picture of the Christian. There was a mixed multitude that influenced the Israelites to complain when it came to their lack of food. In other words, there are people in the church who call themselves Christians, but are just naming the name of Christ and not taking hold of Him 100%. How many times do we listen to what people who call themselves Christians have to say over what the Bible says? We need to stick to the Scriptures and not be easily swayed by every wind of doctrine. Thank you so much for your blog. It is definitely a thought provoker.
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SUSY RESPONDS:
I think you’re right, Jennifer. The culture serves up a spiritual soup of beliefs and ideas and we must cling to the Rock and know the Bible….I know that this dear girl’s story reminds me to take time to talk, really talk, with people and get beneath the surface where we can work through the things that really matter. I just can’t assume that everyone sitting in a pew knows Jesus on an intimate level.