A Minister on a Mission
by Rachel L. Miller

Marianne Williamson is dancing in tempo with the upbeat music of "We are Marching," clapping her petite hands rhythmically, moving her feet from side to side. She's walking along the front row of the church, singing along with the choir, leaning toward a member of the Renaissance Unity congregation with a smile.

She sings, "Be of good courage and get ready to fly" to a radiant young woman, who gives her a wide smile in return.

The parishoner to my left nudges me softly and says, "That's Marianne's daughter." I feel silly for not noticing the close resemblance, but I sheepishly smile my gratitude to the woman and try to dance along with everybody else. The entire congregation is on its feet, singing, dancing and unlike most churches, making a whole heck of a lot of noise. This entirely upbeat and rather unorthodox (especially for a first-time visitor) service opening is a celebration, an enthusiastic gathering for further spiritual connection and enlightenment.

As the song ends and the audience erupts into applause and cheers, Marianne Williamson takes the stage. You would think a woman as petite as Williamson would be swallowed up by such a large stage, but she's not. Instead, as she takes the stage, it seems to immediately shrink to fit her presence, to make her the only focal point. The reason for this, I figure, is simple — this is when she enters her element, when every eye is suddenly on her. She stands straight but relaxed, her posture commanding yet friendly. Clad in a stylish gray suit with cropped sleeves, she clasps her hands in front of her and starts to speak.

Her topic this week, she says, is "doing versus being."

"We're a society that's so concentrated on doing, doing, doing all the time," she said. "Sometimes it behooves us to stop and ask, 'What am I really doing? Am I missing out somehow on a greater, more peaceful, more loving and harmonious state of being?'"

Despite my need to remain impartial, I feel myself being sucked in to her lecture, nodding in unison when Williamson makes an impressive point about how we are always rushing and hurried, always living for the future in hopes of attaining more material things.

"There's some layer of simplicity we've lost," Williamson says emphatically to the audience. "There's a high price we've paid for our gadgets. Something's wrong with the center of things."

And the point that really hits home is a comment she makes about our relationship with God.

"We tend to think of God as our errand boy," she said, looking out over the hundreds of people in the audience. "We say, 'Can you do this, help me with that?'"

Williamson pauses, tilting her head ever so slightly, a thoughtful look on her face. "What we should be saying is, 'Whatever you're doing, how can I help?'"

Williamson, as the senior minister of Renaissance Unity Interfaith Spiritual Fellowship in Warren, Mich., is asking us to think more about our spirituality and the role God plays in our lives.

A professional lecturer since 1983, three of her seven published books have been #1 New York Times bestsellers, including her most well-known book "A Return to Love," which was featured on Oprah Winfrey's talk show. "A Return to Love" is a spiritual guide in which Williamson shares her reflections on A Course in Miracles (a complete self-study spiritual thought system) and her insights on the application of love in the search for inner peace.

In the weeks following the Sept. 11 attacks, Williamson appeared as a guest on Oprah's show, saying, "Martin Luther King said we have a power in us more powerful than the power of bullets. The power of love can be harnessed — that's what Gandhi and Dr. King spoke of — harnessing our love that it might become a social force for good. What we do with the mind and we do with the spirit is an important part of the healing. Prayer is a conduit of miracles."

But in the past few months, Williamson says that the American people might've missed a great window of opportunity after the terrorist attacks. "After Sept. 11, we were more humble, more open," Williamson says. "Unfortunately, we didn't have the leadership who wanted to take advantage of that. Just throwing bombs and going back to shopping isn't the answer."

"Do I think we took advantage of what might've been?" she says contemplatively. "No, I don't think we did."

She adds that now more than ever, our society needs "some real women." She pauses and leans forward for emphasis, tapping her fingertips on her open palm. "We have too few women standing up and speaking up for women. Sisterhood was a core value of feminism, but now young women don't realize that sisterhood has to be part of the equation. We need to support each other. We need to have the courage to claim this planet for love — our job is to mother a new world in which children are safe."

"Most of us live our lives like we're in this by ourselves," she continues. "Faith is where we realize we're part of a bigger flow, a curve of energy. There's so much more going on than you — we have a world to share; it's not a time to dawdle with self-precoccupation."

One way in which Williamson thinks we can make a difference is through prayer. She advocates a five-minute prayer every day at noon, confident that collective prayer sends positive energy out into the world.

Williamson always had a strong interest in philosophy, but struggled through her twenties, as many of us do, with how to turn that interest into a career. "At that time, you could only be a philosophy professor or a minister or a rabbi - none of those categories sounded like a career choice for me."

Then, at age 27, she started reading "A Course in Miracles" after seeing the book on a friend's coffee table.

Four years later, she says she started her career.

"I was teaching at the Philosophical Research Society and they had lectures on various metaphysical subjects. They gave me opportunity to do lecture in 'A Course in Miracles,'" Williamson said. "It was '83 and AIDS was beginning to emerge as a crisis. Organized religion was taking its time to get stuff together on AIDS. And there I was, talking about a God who laid no guilt or anger for being homosexual or anything else."

"My first year of lecturing was to people over 50 and gay men," she says, smiling.

"I got up and talked about love and forgiveness because it was my joy to do so," she says simply. "I ended up renting a church to continue with the lectures, not that I wanted to take it further."

But the lectures continued, and "one thing led to another — it all happened very innocently."

Then came the seven books and appearances on Oprah. And an invitation from a church in Warren, Mich. Moving from Santa Barbara, Calif., Williamson brought with her years of experience and the desire to make a difference by connecting the masses.

"I thought it'd be an interesting place," she says of Renaissance Unity. "It's a 23,000 square foot facility, where you can have everything under one roof." There's a 3,000-seat center for services, a chapel, bookstore, a cafe in which Oprah Winphey donated much of the furniture, and meeting rooms for the wide variety of seminars and training that takes place daily for members of the congregation. The center also presents impressive speakers several nights a week, guest ministers and musical performers from around the world.

Even the wildly popular choir perform a concert one Friday night a month, stepping out of their usual upbeat spiritual gala, and into their blues, rock and roll, or jazz personas.

"It's been an education — when I arrived four years ago, I thought I'd leave in two years or so."

But, she and her teenage daughter have settled in to the Detroit area and she doesn't plan to leave anytime soon.

"We're called an interfaith spiritual institution," she said, describing Renaissance Unity. "It's about experiencing each other beyond our differences. It's about universal spiritual themes."

One theme in particular is paramount — forgiveness.

"The first step in spirituality is to be more forgiving," she says. "Who are we judging? Who are we fighting? If we can't stop our little battles with each other, how can we stop countries from fighting?"

But just because Williamson is a strong believer in forgiveness doesn't mean she's led a pain-free life.

"I've had some very painful experiences," she says, nodding solemnly. "I've got strong opinions, but I'm not a perfect person. If someone critisizes me constructively, I try to live by it and learn from it."

But the harsh, severe criticism that she's received in the past regarding her career has stung quite deeply.

"A lot of the pain I had was because I cared so much about what people thought. It doesn't help to attach myself to other people's opinions," she continues, shrugging. "If you only say things that people agree with, life would be pretty bland."

She's found that people have a hard time placing her into a category, so they sometimes resort to creating inaccurate descriptions or catchphrases.

"I think it's very unfortunate because it's a way to minimalize and marginalize what I do," she says in response to an article that described her as the "high priestess of the new age." "It's mean to imply, 'How serious can she be if she's a new age guru?'"

"But, finally, the tables have turned," she said. "I think my career speaks for itself over the past 20 years."

Having lectured professionally since 1983 and having been a popular guest on television programs like "The Oprah Show," "Larry King Live," and "Good Morning America," she's proven her appeal, longevitity and credibility.

In addition to co-founding The Global Reniassance Alliance, a worldwide network of non-violent activists, she's currently developing a radio talk show and is working on a new book, all while tackling a life milestone: turning 50.

"I can't wait," she says of her upcoming birthday. "All of my girlfriends say you just don't care so much what people think after you turn 50."

Well, if you listen to the Renaissance Unity congregation, they've got nothing but praise, respect and love for Marianne Williamson. And they're coming out in droves every Sunday to hear her latest insights on world events and how spirituality can play a more significant role in their lives.

"You're the reason we come here every week!" One woman calls from the audience during an informal period in Williamson's lecture.

Hundreds of heads nod in agreement and Williamson smiles in appreciation.

Then it hits me: whatever she decides to do, she will succeed. She will succeed in part because of her undeniable talent, intelligence, and gift of giving. But she will also shine because she is so deftly loved and supported by thousands of people worldwide.

For more information:
-Marianne Williamson's website
-Renaissance Unity website