BY MARK JACOBS

Today we’re witnessing a global crying out for change on many fronts. No one can escape the daily call to shake things up and move forward, envisioning a future of working together around the world as one people. The shift we have in our sights, however, can only take place within our own consciousness, which is the best work we can do to bring about any such change. It is a journey that beckons us all, one that requires courage, love and deep insight.

I couldn’t have known 30 years ago that the kids who relentlessly teased me would make me stronger. Who would’ve guessed that dangling from a dead tree branch after slipping off the bank of the Grand Canyon at 13 would show me the undeniable Presence of God? Shaken to the core, the tears weren’t from nearly falling to my death, but from the unexpected insight that I’d been kept safe for some reason. But for what? It would haunt me for years.

The teasing—and the haunting—subsided when I found alcohol and a group of friends from the “cool” crowd. Indeed, alcohol stifled most of my fears, many creative aspirations and any sense of the divine. On the surface, my alcohol use was effective, continuing through college and into West Hollywood thereafter, where I came out and never looked back. Coming out and getting into the bar scene was an easy transition for me, one that afforded many freedoms—emotional, mental and sexual. It was my first opportunity to pay attention to an inherent part of my being. Still heavily drinking, however, the responsibilities of life eluded me and there remained a persistent rumbling in my soul.

Finally, when Shirley MacLaine went public about her spiritual inclinations, I was moved to visit a local bookstore where I felt drawn to the section on reincarnation. I began reading, and, at one point, remember looking around at the hoards of books about spirituality thinking “life just changed.” After another two years of alcohol abuse alongside intense spiritual exploration, the scales finally tipped and the desire to drink was miraculously removed in 1989. Life had, indeed, changed. The veil began to lift.

I realized immediately that Alcoholics Anonymous was another spiritual endeavor, a way to begin to change my entire circuit of thinking—about the past and the present moment. It also gave me permission to construct a God of my understanding, one that continues to evolve. With loving support and guidance from others like me, I continued the arduous but welcomed journey inward.

Shortly thereafter, I was introduced to Science of Mind followed by HIV. Combined, these opportunities moved me to ponder a larger spiritual question: What do I want to do with my life? The awakening I’d experienced as a result of sobriety and clearing out the emotional trash now felt a lot more intense, sometimes profoundly painful, yet I was called to go deeper inward.

Meditation came with prayer, study and a desire to be of service in the world. Cultivating my relationship with Spirit and with a local spiritual community were tantamount. Still, even with all the study and camaraderie, I felt something was missing. It was suggested that I spend time reading about Francis of Assisi. “Why?” I asked reluctantly. “I wasn’t raised Catholic.”

Francis is an extraordinary figure who isn’t about religion, but about awareness along the path. He saw God within all of life in equal measure including every outcast and wasn’t shy about telling everyone. I admire his convictions and devotion to a life beyond himself.

Not long ago, I opened a comprehensive spiritual bookstore online. The response has been overwhelming and extraordinary. Through hundreds of conversations about many paths of spirituality, some previously unknown to me, I began to realize that all roads climb the same mountain and that each one is deeply personal. They all lead us to Oneness of Spirit in the realization that we’re interconnected on the seen and unseen sides of life. It doesn’t matter the human labels—orientation, gender, race, status, position, ad infinitum. When we help or acknowledge another, we help and acknowledge ourselves. As we build our inner life, we’re openly available to others. We see the world—and its people—with smiling eyes where love, compassion and simple joy become part of the daily journey. To understand this is reason enough for why I’m alive today. Since we can’t escape it, why not live as One?

Mark Jacobs is a licensed Spiritual Practitioner with the North Hollywood Church of Religious Science and is the steward for manypathsbookstore.com. He’s appeared on numerous radio and talk shows, and his books include Meditations with Peaceful Presence and One with God, due to be released in 2009.