God is not something I think about but something I experience as an energy, a Presence. I do find it easier to pray to a female Presence or an androgynous Presence.
Interpretation
This quote expresses a personal connection to the divine as an experiential presence rather than an abstract concept.
Olympia Dukakis speaks to the nature of spirituality, suggesting that the divine is not just a thought or belief but a tangible experience akin to energy or presence. She implies that this connection becomes more personal and accessible when envisioned as feminine or androgynous, highlighting the significance of relational dynamics in spiritual experiences.
In practice
In a discussion about the nature of spirituality during a philosophy class.
A Union that can only be maintained by swords and bayonets has no charm for me. If the Union is dissolved and government disrupted, I shall return to my native state and share the miseries of my people, and save in defense will draw my sword on none.
There are two sorts of hypocrites: ones that are deceived with their outward morality and external religion; and the others are those that are deceived with false discoveries and elevation; which often cry down works, and men's own righteousness, and tlak much of free grace, but at the same time make a righteousness of their discoveries and of their humiliation, and exalt themselves to heaven with them.
And now each night, I count the stars. And each night I get the same number. And when the stars won't come to be counted, I count the holes they leave.
The opinions and beliefs of men follow involuntarily the evidence proposed to their minds.
I do not believe in sex distinction in literature, law, politics, or trade - or that modesty and virtue are more becoming to women than to men, but wish we had more of it everywhere.
Cannot the nation that has absorbed ten million foreigners into its political life without catastrophe absorb ten million Negro Americans into that same political life at less cost than their unjust and illegal exclusion will involve?
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