The Jesus Revolution
A Seed Is Planted
How can I make a case for Jesus which is appealing to the masses?
I probably couldn’t. Not with my background, having been a practitioner of New Age healing modalities for many years, and a NYC born and raised wild party girl for even longer.
God was in my life from a young age being raised in a Catholic family. Regardless of my families beliefs, I too fully accepted that there had to be something greater than myself and the world around me-- this great big world which I felt keenly attuned to. I was a sensitive child. I grew up in a complex family dynamic surrounded by chaos one moment, and filled with magical childlike wonder the next. I knew God to be my friend when I was lonely, and my favorite story teller when I needed to get lost in my imagination. I communed with the trees, sky and stars. My eyes glistened when knights in shining armor came to save the princess in every fairy tale. I believed Neverland was real, and I desperately wanted to go there. I felt life would be easier if I were a mermaid, so I let myself be bathed by the tumultuous giant ocean on family vacations. I was an adventurer at heart, a sensitive spirit... but also a lonely, lost and hurt little girl.
This loneliness and sensitivity led to questions when I got older: “Who is God, really? What is God? Is God the trees and the sand? Is God the waves in the sea? Or is God with me during heartbreak?”
The more questions I had, the more spiritual I became, and the more sensitive I felt to others. I empathized with those around me greatly. I had a keen ear, eye, and a strong stomach for holding space for people through their struggles as I blossomed into my teen years. I was the go-to friend for advice and high-school student mediator. I believed helping people to be my calling. Then, in my early 20’s... it happened.
A World of Wonder
Finally, just like in the fairy tales, the man who I thought to be the love of my life entered my world. I felt I had known him for lifetimes past. An intensity and steady passion existed between us which seemed otherworldly. I remembered a dream I had about him before he entered my life, and when our eyes locked-- I realized the adult man in my dreams was stood before me. We went to the same school as children, so I thought our reconnecting was fate. My soul seemed to dance with his whenever we were together, and I felt this unimaginable peace when I was near him. It was like I had come home.
Long story short, we never were. But, what happened soon after was an epic like I had never read in any novel or watched in any film before in my life. I was in love, and all of my psychic and spiritual doors flung open: finally, I believed I had met God. Being psychic, being desperately in love, and having constant dreams of communicating with this beautiful man I had reconnected with made me feel I had found my purpose. I wanted others to experience this spiritual high, too. I wanted to counsel people to achieve and feel all the magic I had felt. Shortly after, I got certified in shamanic reiki and cognitive behavioral therapy in order to put all my prior helping skills to use. Strangers would come up to me in public places to divulge their deepest traumas and I would help to navigate them. I then parlayed these experiences into a practice and it took off. However, what first started out as a dream, eventually turned into a nightmare.
All the psychic readings I would give to clients, all of the empathic abilities, visions, clairvoyant sensations and dreams I had became unbearable, overwhelming... then very, very scary.
Beyond The Veil
The spirits attached to these abilities which I communed with, and believed to be peaceful and benevolent began to mock me, disturb my sleep, and it all negatively effected my physical and mental health. I was oppressed, isolated, certainly not healed, and still very lonely. What at the time felt even worse, is that I was without a great love with the beautiful man other psychics and my own dreams had me believe was real and true.
After a very long time in this spiritual torment, and after a particularly scary experience in my bedroom, I heard this voice, which felt like a calming breeze say: “Give your life to Jesus.”
Instantly, I understood deep within that all the practices I had been doing, all in search for and in the name of God-- was all built on sand. Make no mistake, the supernatural is real. The spiritual realm is real. However, illegal access to the spiritual realm, all of which are considered New Age comes at a price, and a cost too high for the sane mind and healthy body to sustain.
New Life Blooms
I didn’t want to give into this voice at first, but after a few moments, I did.
It was the voice I now know to be the Holy Spirit. So, one more time after I resisted, the voice gently said again: “Give your life to Jesus.”
So I surrendered. And I saw Him. And He was perfect, and beautiful, and oh so peaceful. He saved me, literally saved me from spiritual attack. I physically saw Him reach out His hand and take me from the darkness which was surrounding me to pull me close to Him. Finally, I felt what I thought I’d known prior in my work, and what I went searching for as a small girl: Truth, friendship, and true love. I was no longer lonely, no longer needing a knight in shining armor to come rescue me, and no longer questioning who God was- because I finally had Him. Jesus is the Prince who rescued me.
A Case For Christ
So, what is a Jesus Revolution?
The Jesus Revolution is acceptance of the truest, realest peace one could ever experience in their lifetime.
The Jesus Revolution is the realization that someone so perfect and divine in all His ways loves us fully, and is not only pursuing us, but WAITING for us to allow Him to love and accept ALL of who we are--wherever we are. In our mess, in all our ugliness, scars, battle wounds, financial ruin, heartbreak and trauma- Jesus loves us- so impeccably and perfectly. He loves you, regardless of if you know Him yet or not. Which is quite certainly a radical type of love.
You see, God led me to a spirituality which didn’t come from Him, to be able to discern what is Him. He led me to a beautiful man I met in my childhood to love, and learn where I was afraid to be loved and be cherished. He led me to this man so I could learn my capacity to love even when it wasn’t reciprocated, which opened up all my spiritual and psychic doors. God orchestrated this wild encounter in order to pave the road which led me to Jesus. All the love I hadn’t felt, known, and was afraid of was fulfilled, reciprocated and free with Jesus Christ.
Full Bloom
If I hadn’t felt so broken and lonely, lost and confused, if wasn’t deceived and had strayed, I wouldn’t have recognized how much I needed Jesus when He met me in my turmoil- because I thought I had it all figured out; I did not.
I was never healed from anxiety, depression, childhood wounds, trauma from abusive partners, or burns from toxic friendships when I was participating in and advocating for New Age practices.
When I tell you all of my darkness was lifted when I gave my life to Jesus… well... it was revolutionary. It was epic. It was a romance for the ages. And for all you twin flame enthusiasts out there- it was and is the great love God promises us and designs for us.
My story and testimony, and so many others like it, are little collage pieces of miracles creating a much larger portrait and the portrait is this: Jesus. Jesus is the revolution the world needs.
Don’t take my word for it, though. Revolutions are not without being met with resistance, so I invite you to resist if you must while reading this.
But, just in case you’re twitching your nose in consideration at least a little, let me leave you with this: The next time you marvel at the beautiful sky, take a deep breath in of the salty ocean air, feel the fresh cool breeze on a warm spring night, or kiss your lover and feel safe-- say ‘thank you.’ But don’t give thanks to the creation of these wonderful experiences, give it to the Creator- then see what happens next. Praise the Creator, because beauty in the midst of all our chaos, and light in all the darkness in the world- all of the beauty and light are gifts to us. And His son, Jesus, is God’s love letter to humanity. So go ahead, open it.
“The LORD your God is with you, the Mighty Warrior who saves. He will take great delight in you; in his love he will no longer rebuke you, but will rejoice over you with singing.” -Zephaniah 3:17
“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” - John 3:16
Thalia Longchamp is a Christian Counselor and CBT Practitioner in New York, NY specializing in grounding any overwhelming emotional, psychological, and spiritual experiences for her clients. Her office is located in Manhattan.
