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In January, I was received into the Episcopal Church, the culmination of a 35-year journey.

I first attended St. Andrew's Episcopal Church in 1973, when I was trying to decide between becoming an Episcopalian or a Roman Catholic. In 1974, I became Catholic, in large part to follow through on the calling I had experienced since the age of 14 to become a nun. Two years after my confirmation as a Catholic, I joined the Poor Clares, an order of cloistered, contemplative nuns, where I remained for almost five years. After leaving the Poor Clares in late 1980, I remained Catholic for a few years but found myself spiritually homeless when I couldn't reconcile my conscience with many of Catholicism's stances, particularly regarding married and/or female clergy.

In 1984, I encountered neopaganism and the concept of the Divine Feminine. There was much about paganism that appealed to me, and I embraced it enthusiastically for more than 20 years. In 1992, I became a Wiccan high priestess and in 1996 founded Path of the Moon Collective, a networking group for local pagans that still thrives.

During the years I was pagan, my quarrel with Christianity was never with Jesus, but with a religion that, in general, I felt had lost sight of the good news of Jesus' original messages. In that sense, my involvement in paganism was a rejection of organized Christianity. But my paganism was much more about what I was discovering than what I had abandoned.

Foremost of what sparked my interest was that, in paganism, I encountered the Divine as Goddess as well as God. My personal belief was that Goddess and God revealed polar aspects of the One who was the ultimate source of all.

As with other transitions in my spiritual life the move away from paganism was gradual and relatively peaceful.

I have never believed I was "in error" during my pagan years. The saying "God writes straight with crooked lines" is a perfect example of my spiritual development, and everything that has happened in my life has been grace-filled. My desire has always been to pursue as close a relationship as possible with the Divine. For two decades that yearning was satisfied within paganism. When that ceased to be fulfilling I began exploring other avenues.

I remembered signs, bumper stickers and decals proclaiming "The Episcopal Church Welcomes You." I knew the Episcopal Church was struggling with profound social issues and discovered that many of those struggles aligned with my own. I began attending services regularly. Within a brief time I knew my heart and soul had found a new dwelling place.

The poet Rilke in "Letters to a Young Poet" encouraged his friend Kappus to live the questions of his life and, by doing so, live his way gradually to the answers he sought.

My delight in my spiritual journey is not that I have found all the answers for my life, but that I continue to discover good and honorable companions who will travel with me while I explore the questions and who will dance with me on holy ground.

In the Episcopal Church I have found a Christian community that, while offering answers, also struggles with important questions, and I have finally found a place where I believe Jesus would feel at home.

Susan Dean Wessells realized a lifelong dream when she appeared on the "Jeopardy!" television game show in 2007. She lives in Greensboro and is pursuing other dreams.

Faith Matters is a column written by people of diverse faiths. To write a column, contact Nancy H. McLaughlin at 373-7049 or nancy.mclaughlin@news-record.com