Color of Perfection

The colors were perfection today! The redbud is in full bloom and the dogwood is nearly there, still hanging onto a tinge of green in the white. The magnolias are beginning to drop their big petals beneath the trees. Forsythia and daffodils abound around here. There is a civic group of some sort that promotes the planting of daffodils, so they are blooming throughout the town, as well as on nearby farmsteads and business grounds. Oh, my God, thank you for that! I think I cannot see that color without feeling its energy throughout my body. Trees are sprouting leaves and dark wild onion shoots rise above the rich, green, uncut clumps of varied grasses. Some fields are covered with a purple flower I don't know and some yards are awash with bluebells. I have enjoyed driving past the landscapes. The violets are more subtle; one must be up close to catch their beauty. The pink buds on our peach tree have opened to full within the past two days and will probably begin to fade by tomorrow evening. Against the backdrop of dark sky the colors seemed especially brilliant.

Add to this visual delight the voices of birds reveling in the season, the smell of air washed with a recent rain and the soft touch of a cool breeze reaching through the warmth. Today the gift of a Hoosier spring enraptured my heart. Today I am reminded the Earth is a sacred place.

Oh God, my God!

Another song by "Mana" at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ujZSP8PsDrk&feature=related...helps me remember the whole universe is a sacred space!

Uplifting Words

"Ours be the poems of all tongues,
All things of loveliness and worth.
All arts, all ages and all songs,
One life, one beauty on the earth"

~by Kenneth L. Patton

Recently I have become more aware of my passion for enjoying the creative expression of others and for encouraging that expression.

Spring

Today is the first day of spring, the March equinox, Naw-Ruz, the beginning of a new year. We're traveling to Muncie to celebrate with old friends. It's a time of the natural balance between the length of daylight and dark. Today I honor renewal.


This music expresses so much, a fitting tribute to the season. Israel Kamakawiwo'ole was truly a blessing to humanity through his music. One cannot help but recall the renditions of former artists, though, and I think this enhances the overall emotional impact of the piece. I can't seem to get this to post as a link, but the address is www.dailymotion.com/video/xeb6n_somewhere-over-the-rainbow.

Wild Strawberries

Here's a parable that inspires me. It's a reminder to be aware of the joy in the moment.

A traveler was walking along life's path when a tiger began chasing her. She ran, but found herself blocked at the edge of a cliff, the tiger on one side and the cliff on the other. As her mind raced to decide which direction to go the ground gave out from under her and she began to fall. She reached out and grabbed a root that protruded from the cliff face and she hung on for dear life with both hands, only to find that within a matter of seconds the root began to give way. The tiger snarled above her; jagged rocks threatened below her. At that moment she spied a clump of wild strawberries ripening on the side of the cliff near her hand. Her mind calmed and fear left her. She reached out with one hand, picked them and ate them, savoring their sweetness and flavor.

Moral: Let go of the fear so you can grab the joy.

Today, Lord, let me see the wild strawberries and gobble them up. Let me taste the sweetness of life. Let me experience gratitude in the here and now. Let me remember that NO MATTER WHAT you hold me in the palm of your hand.

Children

This quote expresses my deepest feelings about my children. I used to have a cassette tape that had these words set to music. I lost it and have since searched for it from time to time. EVERY SINGLE TIME I listened to it my eyes welled with tears and I felt the burning and brilliant shining of love in my heart.

Your children are not your children.

They are the sons and daughters of Life's longing for itself.

They come through you but not from you,

And though they are with you, yet they belong not to you.

You may give them your love but not your thoughts.

For they have their own thoughts.

You may house their bodies but not their souls,

For their souls dwell in the house of tomorrow, which you cannot visit, not even in your dreams.

You may strive to be like them, but seek not to make them like you.

For life goes not backward nor tarries with yesterday.

You are the bows from which your children as living arrows are sent forth.

The archer sees the mark upon the path of the infinite, and He bends you with His might that His arrows may go swift and far.

Let your bending in the archer's hand be for gladness;

For even as he loves the arrow that flies, so He loves also the bow that is stable.

~from The Prophet by Kahlil Gibran



It's the last line that touches me most deeply. I feel my love for my children and know something of God's love for them. Then, I am assured He loves me even as He loves them. I know this is an infinite love because I know that's the kind of love I have for my children. How much greater must God's love be?

image from outsider-artists.net

Happiness

"I believe that satisfaction, joy and happiness are the ultimate purposes of life. And the basic sources of happiness are a good heart, compassion, and love." The Dalai Lama



Today I saw this quote on a blog that I want to revisit: mariposapsychotherapy.blogspot.com. For the past several years I have worked as an educator in connection with the mental health profession and I miss my former co-workers dearly. Visiting this sight seemed almost like a visit with them. As I write this I am reminded again that every change involves a loss of the former so the new can come into being. I have said my former job was like spiritual boot camp. It was an adventure and a challenge. It brought me a sense of satisfaction and I believe it helped me develop spiritually. It helped sustain me through a difficult period in my life and through the work I developed professional skills that I may use to move myself into this new phase of my life, here in a different community. The author uses the symbol of a butterfly as a recurring theme of metamorphosis and transformation. Again, I am reminded of the inspiration people receive from nature. Are the struggles I'm currently experiencing simply the hard work of emerging from the chrysalis? Maybe if I visualize myself as a butterfly...

image from csslara.com

The Pathway

Serenity is my desire. Serenity stems from truthfulness. Truthfulness is the foundation of a life of serenity. I walk the pathway of serenity with gratitude and faith. Gratitude brings joy which gives me a spiritual energy I like to call wings. This uplifts me to a holy place. Faith gives me strength, which results in perseverance. I rely on my Creator for the inspiration and guidance that directs both my stillness and my movement.

Compassion manifests itself in the kindness that leads to my service to humanity and truthfulness leads to the awareness that is necessary for my right action. Through this path I come to serenity and I enter into peace. This is the journey of life, which is simply an entering into the center of my being where I experience a stillness that immerses me in the Creative Force.

As I remain in truthfulness my heart unfolds with compassion. I take right action and continue to experience awareness of both my inner and outer being. I respond to my unique life experience with kindness to myself and others, enabled to be of service beyond my capacity as I walk with my gaze fixed on the Creative Source.

Faith keeps me centered and my gratitude increases. I persevere with the strength I am provided by the Provider. I am lifted up and supported. I walk in joy. This is the pathway I am taking to becoming who I am, a loved child of God.

image from outsider-artists.net

A Moment of Clarity

Walking the labyrinth must have created a focused meditative experience, for a couple of days later, an insight came to me totally beyond what I had expected, and totally beyond the issue upon which I had meditated. I experienced a moment of clarity which infused me with joy. I was given both a visual image and the words to help me stay focused, especially in times of tests. Upon returning home, only a few minutes after this experience, I opened the mailbox to find notice of some unexpected news which I would have been spiritually unprepared to handle had I not just experienced that moment. As it was, I accepted calmly what life handed me and felt assured that God was with me in that moment and for whatever I will face in this matter. The image is in the form of a seed labyrinth with four quadrants and words associated with certain key spots. The image provides cues for the thoughts that lead me to a great calm.

An Old Journal

This is part of a journal entry I found from December 23, 2006:

"I feel as if I have come to almost a complete stillness in my soul. I ask only that I be open to love, that I may give and receive love without obstruction, that I grow in infinite intimacy with my Creator as I joyfully embrace the co-creative experience. May I be fully human-in servitude unto my Lord."

Now, I look back at the amazing events that have unfolded, both within my own life and in the outer world. First, there were the confirmations, then the tests. It has been tumultuous for me, but now I am back to the peace and I am grateful.