God's Hidden Places

This is a brilliant and pungent book by a modern mystic whose clear voice emerges out of contemporary confusion and complexity. If you are already familiar with mysticism this book is a banquet for the soul. If you are not yet aware of the eons of mystical thinking and writings, of seeking truths beyond visible reality, Reverend Gallagher introduces us to a profound world of spiritual consciousness. Even in early Childhood, Reverend Gallagher was aware of being called by Spirit for a specific purpose in the world. She casts a wide invitation to her readers to join her, “and experience the consciousness of a universal Love.” She became a seeker, driven by an “ache that has never left me” to be “as close to God as possible.” At age eleven she wrote a poem she channeled on her way to church and school every morning. I love you God, indeed I do The pain in my heart shows you Born and educated in Catholicism, she could hear God’s voice within her even as a child. Always it called her to the priesthood which had no place for her. Later she was in a loving marriage, mother of three children, yet the calling did not diminish. It became a Force that could not be ignored. Is it any wonder that such intensity found release through addiction. She speaks of lost years in and out of rehab. After her children had grown, she found her priesthood in the Episcopal Church. Then, after approximately five years of study, she was ordained. Yet ordination did not resolve that pain of separation from God. It was then she realized the “discovery of self” was necessary in order to discover God. Thus, her search for God and wholeness continued and deepened in her service as an Episcopal priest for seventeen years. She moved on to missions in Hospice and Bereavement Counseling. Still the voice continued, calling her now to understand and teach the Nature of God. In that endeavor, could she perhaps also be revealed to God and to herself? Questions crowded in her mind. Is God also a seeker? Is God’s quest the same quest as our own? The ancient question emerges once more. “Why am I here? “Who am I?” Am I part of God as God’s Spirit is part of me? These questions led her to imagine thinking across dimensions into the vastness of universal consciousness in the new accelerated reality of our contemporary world. The intricate journey Reverend Gallagher describes is one of both Pain and Elation, Mystery and Insight. In that turning point she also understood the Alpha and Omega, Beginning and End, complete each other. Preface written by Helena J. Sturnick, PhD Author of Fire in the Soul, a personal narrative of the goddess Sekmet’s Years of Dream Teaching with her. How should I start this book so you don’t leave me after the first page? Instead wanting to run your fingers through my words, nestle in my thoughts and find meaningful moments to fill the seeking of your soul. Will you stay with me as you settle into the sea of your dreams and the cracks in your heart? Where you can be touched by the radical love that can only be felt by the kiss of angels. And experience the consciousness of a universal love? We are all in this together. Come and feel the moment. Come and feel the vibration. Bring your baggage so you can put it down. Bring your wide-eyed expectations so you can envision a new creation. Come and see this new creation with me. Come and see yourself. You are me and I am you. I do pray, as you walk through this book, it trips you and you fall into the heart of your soul. Let us begin. Many years ago, at the age of eleven, when my heart felt an ache and my whole being was set afire, Cha p t e r 1 The Journey Unfolds I started writing poetry. I became a seeker and that ache has never left me, even in my darkest hours. I love you God indeed I do The pain in my heart shows you. I began my studies in the Catholic school system taught by nuns. I yearned to be as close to God as possible. I walked to church every morning before school to go to Mass and receive Holy Communion. I believed that if I swallowed the host, I would feel closer to my God. I could hear God’s voice inside me during those young years and later heard it calling me to the priesthood. I married and had three children, but always had a persistent voice in the back of my mind pushing me to pursue ordination. Oh, but where to go with this in the Roman Catholic Church, a woman was sure to wonder! A few years later I was introduced to the Episcopal Church where, for the first time, I saw a woman consecrating and saying Mass. I joined the church and that same woman mentored me as I started my ordination process of five years. After seminary and ordination, I was given my first parish and became priest-in-charge of many parishes over 17 years. I felt complete as I answered my calling. I thought I had it all, motherhood and priesthood! I didn’t realize how wrong I was, there was so much more. Approximately seven years later, after my ordination, my children were grown and out of the house. I was taken beyond the teachings of traditional Christianity through my readings and experiences in meditation. I experienced different levels of knowledge and new insights. Thus began another journey into new worlds, leading me onward to Christian Existentialism, Buddhism and Taoism, New Thought Churches and Spiritualism.