The Bliss Mistress Guide: God in Drag

A few months ago, I was watching television at Planet Fitness. My viewing platform was not a comfy couch as it would have been, had I been at home, but instead the elliptical on which I was enjoying my regular playout. The Jeff Probst Show was broadcasting from two of the twenty screens that sprawled across the wall above the mirrors. His guest was the spiritual icon Deepak Chopra and his son Gotham who had just released a movie called Deconstructing Deepak, for which he followed his father around with a video camera for a year and interviewed him extensively. The intention was for people to get to know the man behind the image and that, I imagine, they did. I haven’t seen the film, but would like to do so, to get a first- hand perspective on a man I had interviewed many years ago, when he was just getting started as a teacher, author and guide, since he does not refer to himself as a guru, although some would label him thusly.

One thing I appreciated about Jeff’s interview with Deepak was how respectful he was of beliefs that might have been left of center for some of his viewers and perhaps even his own. Unfortunately many of his media colleagues take a tongue in cheek approach to spirituality that is not mainstream. Jeff posed a question that Deepak answered magnificently. The query was, “Who are you?” to which he responded “I’m God in drag,” and if memory serves, he added “And you are too.” I felt an instantaneous respect for Jeff at that moment, since I already experienced a kinship with Dr. Chopra’s mind and heart-set.

A few days later, Jeff’s guest was the gender-bending RuPaul, star of RuPaul’s Allstar Drag Race. I remember his cameo in the 1995 cult classic : To Wong Foo, Thanks For Everything, Julie Newmar as Rachel Tensions whose performance as a drag queen show emcee, foretold his role on his own show that debuted in 2009.

He was dressed in a plaid suit, not his usual fluff and flounce and spoke about his life and spiritual beliefs and the origin of his name, given to him by his Louisiana born mother. The "Ru" came from roux, an ingredient used in gumbo. Guess how he identified himself? Of course, he too is “God in drag.”; who else could he be? Now an even more pressing question is “Who else could you be?” I like to say that I don’t have the right to tell anyone what to believe spiritually and yet, my sense is that we are sparks of the Divine, dancing through the cosmos, being all fabulous.

I remember a story I heard many years ago about a little child who was drawing a picture. Mom, looking over her shoulder, asked “What are you making, honey?” “I’m drawing God,” to which her mother responds “Nobody knows what God looks like.” “They will in a few minutes,” replied the smiling sage.

For many of us, God is an enigma and wears different faces; some friendly and some frightening. What if, as the Joan Osborne song asks :"God was one of us?" How would that change the ways in which we view ourselves, our roles in the world and how we interact with the other 'God-beings' that inhabit the planet with us?

Rev. Edie Weinstein (Bliss Mistress) is a colorfully creative journalist, engaging transformational speaker, opti-mystic who sees the world through the eyes of possibility, an interfaith minister (via The New Seminary), licensed social worker, BLISS Coach, radio show host and the author of The Bliss Mistress Guide To Transforming The Ordinary Into The Extraordinary. www.liveinjoy.org