The Sacredness of Life...

This beautiful moth is similar to the one that was hit by my car on my drive home from
San Diego recently.
When I noticed the beautiful moth on the front grill of the car, I felt a sense of terrible loss, grief, guilt...
I felt like a terrible human being that somehow had been a participant in harming an innocent creature.
When I was in the midst of these overpowering emotions, I noticed that the moth moved.
It's wing was very very broken...actually both wings were broken and it was not capable of flying in any way.
I approached the moth slowly and carefully and gently eased the moth away from the grill that it was trapped in.
I held it in my hand...and we formed a 'bond'.
I sent that beautiful moth a heartfelt apology for the harm I had caused it.
I so wished somehow that the situation could have been different.
What I 'heard' from the moth, was that what it wanted was to experience human compassion.
So I sat in the car with the moth in my hand for some time, sending it love and appreciation for its beauty and courage.
The moth moved occasionally and would stretch its leg...that's about the only part of the moth that was able to move...it's movement brought more tears of grief for the little life that was cut short.
I decided to carry the moth in my lap as I drove to my next destination.
It seemed to rest quietly, again moving infrequently but just enough so that I knew she was still with me.
When I arrived at my destination, I sat in the car and 'asked' her what she wanted and how I could help her 'transition' which I sensed was more imminent.
She communicated that she wanted to be allowed to rest in a warm space in the sun.
So I prepared such a space, placed her gently there, and said a blessing for her life.
I asked that her gift to the world be acknowledged and her life be honored.
When I came back to the spot where she was lying a bit later, she had passed on.
She had 'birthed' new wings that would take her on to a place 'not of this world'.
I placed her beautiful broken body in some flowers on the ground nearby and as I did this, a young girl approached.
Oh, she said, that looks like a beautiful creature.
And I showed her the beauty of this amazing little being.
She looked and smiled.
Then she spoke of her love of all the birds and butterflies and other creatures of the Earth.

The moment brought me to a remembrance of the sacredness of life...of the fragile nature of our existence...
What a gift each moment is.
And what a gift it is to share this beauty.
What a gift it is to acknowledge and honor the life that surrounds us...the life that is within us.
Why take this for granted?
Why disregard its significance?

Why not realize its incredible value...
Why not open to its mystery...
Why not explore its offerings...

Sacred Work

We all sense that there is a deep hunger in the world for something more…

Something that will take us back to a greater sense of meaning and purpose.

One of the core principles that brings us back to this purpose and meaning is recognizing the sacred in all that we do.

It doesn’t matter if our work in the world is cleaning floors, doing surgery, running a business, caring for a home and family.

One is not more important than the other.

If we were to change our perspective about the sacredness of what we do, our wholeheartedness would also change.

We could release the need for labels, and other forms of identification with form.

When we view another person with a deeper sense of who they are, we are truly seeing them for the first time.

We must also embrace and cherish the opportunity to interact with others

with a servant’s heart.

The Tribe

Being a part of tribe has so many advantages.
You can huddle together to gain support.
You can bring your challenges to the group to receive additional wisdom.
You can simply 'hang out' to revitalize yourself.

The tribe plays a role in society today as an extended family.
Sometimes the experiences within the family structure are quite intense.
The tribe offers a place of sanctuary and respite.

When you look at Mother Nature, She used the 'tribe' to support life.
She groups diverse populations of animals, plants, trees, to form support structures.
She sometimes coordinates their growing cycles to ensure that each of them have a terrific potential for survival and for thriving in the world.
In some instances, She inspires one species to help another.

The 'tribes' in Nature, create beauty, unity and reconciliation.
They create for us a visual of how we can experience life in a more whole way.
They demonstrate collaboration.
They demonstrate serving the greater good.
They demonstrate the celebration of the success of another.
They demonstrate reaching the potential of what is intended.

The 'tribe' is a basic structure of life, created for our good.
It is a blessing and a gift.
It is a reservoir of wisdom.
It is another form for connection to Spirit.
The tribe teaches in ways that no other 'form' does.

Who is your tribe?
What can they teach you?
What can you share?

Ripening

Ripening is a process that occurs in its own time.
It doesn't happen because we 'want' it to happen.
It doesn't happen because it 'should' happen.
It happens because that's 'who' it is.
It has its own timeline for when and how.
It is no respecter of persons.

Conditions around it can affect it.
It can hurry it up...or slow it down a bit.

The best ripening seems to occur 'in its own time'.
'In its own time' means just that.
No added pressure, no added requirements....
No self-imposed comparisons with others like it.

Ripening has a sequence to it...and this sequence must be respected for the
best outcome.
The sequence follows a pattern that is included in its core make-up.
The sequence builds upon the foundational piece that proceeds it.

In order for the ripening to yield sweet fruit, Mother Nature considers everything.
She pays attention to temperature, water, earth, air...
All the factors come together in their own time.

The Ripening of our own souls follows the same process...
We unfold and mature as we are ready.
We can choose to accelerate this process or slow it down some.
We can nurture this process by opening ourselves to God/Spirit.
Surrendering the process to the Wisdom of Spirit creates the most awesome outcome.

The Portal

Portals, or gateways, are places in our lives where we are extended an invitation to step into 'something else'.
This can be related to our work in the world such as medicine, nursing, housekeeping, plumbing.
This can also be related to 'who' we have been as opposed to 'who' we might become.
In the past, we might have been timid and more introspective.
The portal may represent an invitation to be extroverted and outrageous.
We may have been focused more on our own healing and now we are being given an invitation to focused more outwardly on the healing of others.
We may have been entwined in a small circle of friends and family and the portal invites us to widen our circle to include a larger world view.

The portal is an invitation.
It is not a demand.
It is not a forced pathway.
It simply asks us to consider a different way of being.
It asks us to wonder about other aspects of ourselves and our world that have not yet been travelled.
It asks us to take a journey into aspects of our being that are unrealized but are beckoning to us.

Sometimes we have such a sense of knowing about what is next that we choose to leap forward with a strong sense of surety.
Sometimes we sense that we are being asked to wonder first about what this new future holds for us and for the world and consciously choose a particular path.

Whichever the condition, the portal is a wonderful opportunity.
The opportunity is there to go beyond, to stretch further, to open wider.
It is an opportunity to know other dimensions of ourselves and others.
It is an opportunity to expand our service.

Sometimes our decision is to move through the portal and grasp this new ring of opportunity.
Sometimes we choose to stay put where we are and wait until another portal presents
itself to us.
The beauty of our existence in this world is that we can choose.
Every choice carries blessings and challenges.
We can learn in either direction.
One often results in further soul growth and the other allows us more time to ripen.

Right now, our Earth, asks us to consider strongly what is before us.
It asks us to give wider consideration to what is going on in the world around us and to the Earth Herself.
It asks us to be aware of the needs of others and the service opportunities that abound.

Wonder about what portals are before you right now.
Which door will you choose... door number 1, door number 2, or door number 3,...or....

ReBirth

Easter is quickly approaching us.
Easter is a time of rebirth.
It is a time of thanksgiving.
It is a time of remembrance.

The egg, that is so much a part of the Easter celebration, reminds us of
new life coming forth.
We can begin to sense the possibilities of the potentials that are upon us.
We can sense the opportunities that have never been before, now approaching us.

The egg holds a promise.
The promise is the same for each of us and it is different.
The promise is a type of unfoldment.
It is an opening 'out' of that which has been within for some time.

It wants to be anticipated.
It wants to generate within us the excitement of where this can go.
It asks us to rev up our imagination to 'see' bigger and wider and deeper.
It teases us and suggests we risk more.
It senses that this is what we have truly wanted for some time.
And now, the time is right...the time is ripe.

How fun 'becoming' is.
How natural a process that has occurred within us so very many times.
Yet, how new it is, each time it is begun again.

What a gift to be able to wonder about how it might be different, more wild, more wooly, more in sync with who we truly are as Spirit, this time.

Be Wise...

This sweet little bush is a Barbary plant.
It is currently on the endangered list.
It is indiginous to the California area but there are very few of these bushes left in the wild.
A friend who has been a real 'caretaker' of the land, planted one of these 'back' into nature.
His father had been growing smaller plants in his backyard that had been off-shoots of a larger plant that had been in the wild.
When the plants got large enough to survive on their own, he would replant them in the wild.
This little Barbary is doing quite well.
The reason is that this man regularly watches over the plant and makes sure that it gets just exactly what it needs to thrive.
There was a period of several months where he was out of commission.
He developed cancer and had to have multiple surgeries.
Several of us became concerned about the little Barbary and knew how much it meant to him that it survive and thrive.
So we decided to visit the little bush regularly and 'love it' as Phil had been.
We 'fussed' amongst ourselves as to what was the right amount of water and the right amount of pruning.
We had good intentions, but we didn't truly understand the needs of this
special bush like Phil, the caretaker, did.
Several times, we almost killed the little bush.
But, somehow it survived in spite of us.
Thank goodness, Phil recovered from his illness and has returned to tend the special bush.
Those of us who 'stood in for him' on this very important mission were reminded of the importance of wisdom.
Good intentions did go a long way.
But what would have been best is a combination of good intentions and great wisdom.
We learned that good intentions alone can destroy unknowingly.
True healing incorporates both intention and wisdom.