From Force-Fed Religion To Belonging By Welcoming The Whole Season

Love this AI description, so I'm using it!  I've edited a bit, but enjoy it's take on this fourth and final episode of Season 4 of Welcoming God.

Some moments are revelatory. Walking into church decked in Christmas lights, I felt overcome with joy—and then a sudden inner tension, the old fear that joy requires certainty, rose up immediately after. That crack revealed a tender truth: many of us were taught that belonging depends on perfect belief, and our bodies still brace at the holidays as if doubt disqualifies us from the feast!

We walk through that tension with care as I trace the child part that heard faith as force-fed and the present day adult me who still longs to belong choose to reframe celebration as an act of welcome rather than a test. We widen the lens to include the nativity story, the cultural warmth of Christmas, and the cosmic rhythm of the winter solstice—the return of the light that gives everyone a way in. Instead of passing a theology exam, we practice curiosity: let the manger be beautiful even if you’re unsure of every detail, let candles and cookies sit beside carols and quiet prayers, and let nature’s turning seasons preach their own kind of gospel.

At the heart of this finale is a simple claim: inclusion is not a loophole, it’s the point. Drawing on Jesus’s open table, I invite you to show up as you are—full believer, partial believer, curious skeptic, or somewhere unnamed—and to welcome every part of yourself to the celebration. We explore practical steps for sensing the body’s “brake pedal,” making room for mixed feelings, and receiving the season’s gifts without pretending. The blessing stretches across hemispheres and traditions: may the growing light carry us into a year with more joy, less suffering, and a deeper sense of home.

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Music by Song Channel Music.  Listen at SongChannelMusic.com

Transcript

Tempo: 120.0

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Hey everyone, Sarah here. Just to let you know, sometimes I do use swear words in these episodes, and we may at times discuss adult content. In case you happen to be listening around little ones or people that won't appreciate that. Thanks so much for listening, and let's get right into it. This is the final episode of the fourth season of Welcoming God. So thank you so much for joining me here. I'm super glad and happy that you're a part of the Welcoming God community. And if you'd like to stay in touch with us and me and know more about what I'm up to and the things that I'm offering, go to welcoming God.com and sign up for our email newsletter. You can also support the podcast there and read a little bit more about what Welcoming God is all about. So in this episode, I want to talk about a really precious insight that I had during the Christmas season this past December in 2025. And I had gone to church to uh choir rehearsal the week before Christmas, and I hadn't actually been in the church yet because I had been out of town and uh was busy, I guess, um, for other rehearsals and services. So it was the first time I saw all of the Christmas decorations up in the church. And at first I noticed how happy I felt when I saw all the Christmas decorations. I was like, oh my God, it looks so beautiful. I love this. And then immediately I had this other response or reaction inside that felt uncomfortable and shut down and nervous almost or just uneasy about celebrating the fullness of Christmas. And this led me to an insight around how I have these parts inside of me, these little parts, younger parts that have never felt like they could fully celebrate and enjoy the whole Christmas season because they don't fully believe the whole story about the Nativity and Christmas and Jesus' birthday being on Christmas, I guess. I don't know. I'm not even exactly sure. But this this feeling that it's not okay to celebrate fully and enjoy the season a hundred percent unless I fully believe in what people tell me about it. And I realized as a child, and and even today at times, it can feel like religion is uh being force-fed to me. Like you have to believe this. You have to believe it fully that it's the truth. And if you don't, you're going to hell. And that kind of messaging was with me my whole childhood. And sometimes it can still come out through people around me who I know have good intentions, but it does not feel uh warm, welcoming, inclusive, open. It doesn't feel like an open, curious space of inclusivity and welcoming. And I realize this little girl in me just wants to belong. Just, I just want to feel like I can belong to something, whether I fully believe in it or not. And it was such a big revelation for me to have this year. And it just helped open up this possibility of being able to enjoy it all, being able to enjoy the nativity scene, whether that's exactly how it happened or not, being able to celebrate Christmas, whether or not Jesus was actually born around this time of year or not, welcoming the winter solstice as an integral part of the celebration of this holiday. I mean, the literal return of the light and the longer days that Christianity really made Christmas around because it was symbolic of Jesus' light coming to our world and returning to this world coming to life. So I just want to share this with you because it uh it feels and felt so much more welcoming and belonging. I can belong whether I fully believe in this story or not. I can belong, I can enjoy this time of the year, I can enjoy this beautiful sacred season, this beautiful sacred time of the year, whether I'm a full believer or a partial believer or a curious believer, or I don't believe at all. I mean, it runs the gamut. And so I just wonder how will you invite yourself, uh, welcome yourself in, whatever you believe, wherever you're at, and to be able to welcome in the spirit of belongingness, of inclusivity that Jesus really came to model for us. You know, as far as what I'm learning about Jesus and what Jesus came to teach us as a as a leader, as a teacher, as a model, inclusion was seemingly such a core value of Jesus's, like whoever wanted to come could come. Whoever was willing to say, okay, I believe whether I know what's going on or not, I'm here. Um, the willingness to just be there, to belong and to welcome others. So I'm curious, how how do you welcome all of yourself, all of your parts, and allow yourself to enjoy the fullness of beauty around the Christmas season, whether you're a believer in Christ or not, whether you um celebrate, you know, the winter solstice or not, whether you love the cultural holiday stuff, the lights, the decorations, the cookies or not. I mean, how can we make room for all of us to enjoy the special time of the year, regardless of where we're at in our belief system, what we think about it, what we know is true, what we don't know is true or not? So I leave this with you, and I am wishing you a healthy, happy, prosperous, safe, abundant, full of love, full of God's blessings, whatever God is, full of God's gifts and guidance and truth and oneness and just this special gift that we're given at the holiday time to remember this through the year, that special, special love, that special magic that's that's around the Christmas season, the winter solstice, that we can celebrate this in our hearts and that this light grows and grows and grows as the days get longer and that pinnacle at the summer solstice for us up here in the northern hemisphere. And it's kind of like the opposite for the southern hemisphere, not kind of it is. Um, but just that we can celebrate this gift, these gifts and this beauty throughout the year, regardless of where we're we're at on the path. It's okay where we are. How will we welcome this and celebrate this wherever we are on the path of believing, not believing, wondering, curiosity. Aloha, Nui Loa. Have a beautiful rest of the beginning of your year and stay tuned for more from Welcoming God. Again, please head over to welcoming God.com. You can sign up for our email list where I'll share more about the work that I'm up to and how you may be able to engage in that. And uh looking forward to more goodness through God, with God for the greater good of all. God bless you and your beautiful family and friends and Aloha Nui Loa to this wonderful, wonderful world. Many blessings to all everywhere for the greater good of all, with the least amount of suffering and the most amount of joy in all spaces, places, times, dimensions, and realities. Amen. Hey everyone, Sarah Haeckel here from Welcoming God, a podcast for spiritual seekers. This is a legal disclaimer to say that this podcast is not a substitute for therapy or professional help. I am not a trained therapist. I also have not studied theology in a formal setting. This podcast is purely for educational, inspirational purposes, to share the goodness of welcoming God back into my life and all of the things that I'm learning on this journey. So thank you for joining me here, and I look forward to seeing you on the next episode. Thanks for joining me on another episode of Welcoming God. Please subscribe to this podcast wherever you listen, and consider leaving us a review as it helps more people find and benefit from this show. Music by Song Channel Music. You can listen and hear more at Songchannel Music.com. Until we meet again, Aloha Nui Loa, take care and God bless you.