Seasons Change and So Do I

This morning, as I reflect on the recent one year anniversary of this blog, I'm feeling a shifting, a movement of energy within.  It's as if, with the change of seasons, I am shedding the sadness of losing both parents the last few years, the frustration of  changes and challenges I have faced, and am attaining a new awareness.  I find myself moving from total immersion in the grieving process to a kind of objective examination of all that I have gone through and am continuing to experience.

Life inevitably includes losses; we must say goodbye to loved ones, friends and beloved pets as they pass to some other realm that we call heaven by faith, but that, in darker moments, we may have doubts about.   We may lose jobs, homes, relationships, belongings, and must continually adjust, adapting to whatever there is to adapt to.  After experiencing loss, it is important to find ways to reconnect, to find ourselves again, to affirm that life goes on, that joy can again fill our hearts.

Desert rainbow

I recently spent a week in the little hot springs desert town where my daughter and her family live.  It is a beautiful, wild place where I can disconnect from technology and the constant hum of electromagnetic energy.  My heart opens and joy fills me as I delight in my little granddaughter's beautiful spirit.  It is life-affirming and healing to shed the skin of pain and loss and allow myself to love a new small being.

As the holiday season approaches, I embrace with anticipation the beauty of this time.  I will miss my parents always, but must move on as the seasons change. 

The presence and power of God within keeps me grounded, centered and comforted

We Are All Travelers Here

On this snowy morning in November, as I look outside and groan at the sight outside my window, a single thought floats into my awareness, cascading and settling like a softly falling snowflake: "we are all travelers here".  Each one of us is miraculously created and an intricate part of all that is life on this planet.

The course of our life journey is determined by the thoughts we think, the decisions that we make and the actions we take.  Many of us believe that we are Divinely guided, that as we open ourselves to the flow of God's Spirit, our choices become part of a greater will.  Our lives are connected to each other, rooted and grounded in love.  Though we still don't really understand the meaning of life and certainly can't answer the question "why are we here?", we choose to have faith that all will be revealed in the end.

There is a beautiful quote by author Paulo Coelho that I'd like to share with you:
"We are travelers on a cosmic journey, stardust, swirling and dancing in the eddies and whirlpools of infinity.  Life is eternal.  We have stopped for a moment to encounter each other, to meet, to love, to share.  This is a precious moment.  It is a little parenthesis in eternity."

Let's go forward on this day, this moment in eternity and recognize the sacredness of each step that we take, each encounter we have.  Let's look around and instead of groaning at the sight of snow, see the beauty of snowflakes dancing in the air.  Let's look at the face of a stranger and see the Divine.

Namaste: "The Divine in me sees the Divine in you"

Rise above the Stumbling Blocks

In recent weeks, I have been faced with a difficult life circumstance that has consumed my physical, mental and emotional energy.  I envision this as a dark stumbling block in my path; and have tried with  all my strength to move this dark energy to clear the path so that all can be as it was.

In the process, I have found three things to be true: 1), when I try with all my might to fix something that is beyond my control, all I do is exhaust and frustrate myself;  2), sometimes I need to ask for help from other human beings who are willing to come beside me in prayer and 3), when I have done all that I can with the help of others, I need to move aside and allow God to do the rest.

What I find when doing so is that the stumbling block becomes smaller and loses power, allowing me to rise above it and settle there for a time, still prayerfully involved, but from a new vantage point.

I allow myself to accept things as they are in this moment, to thankfully acknowledge that healing is occurring and to accept that perhaps all will never be as it was, but that this is ok.

Rising above the stumbling blocks in my life, and allowing God to do the work of moving the obstacles, is my path to freedom.