Creating Connection...

Recently, my family took a little trip to Northern California where we visited a Monarch Butterfly Reserve.
It was breathtaking.
As you move into the grove of trees that 'house' the butterflies, you can feel their energy as they spiral around in the branches above you.
They have chosen a beautiful spot on the coast and come back there every year.
They fill the trees with a beautiful orange glow and cluster together in community.
The Park Ranger there explained to us that there are butterflies of different age groups there but their average age is about 17 days.
They create such beauty in the world in just 17 short days.

He explained that they search out milkweed plants on which they create their cocoon.
It's amazing that they choose what we would call a weed (milkweed), to create
their place of home.
They 'know' just the right amount of time to spend in creating this cocoon and just the right amount of time in staying within.
They 'know' just the perfect amount of time to wait to dry off their wings when they are coming out of the cocoon and just the perfect amount of time to wait to launch into flight.

There is so much to learn from these beautiful, wise and delicate beings.
They have developed such a sense of timing and rhythm.

They know how to create connection with others and form community.
They travel together and support each other on their journeys.
They do no harm.
They offer their wisdom to all that will take the time to engage them.
They are gentle and 'tread lightly on the Earth'.

So much wisdom...such a gift to our world.

Gifts from Mother Nature

Mother Nature has many treasures that are available to us as we take
the time to learn about them.
In the ancient Celtic healing traditions, wild mint was used as an herb that was particularly effective to 'clear out bad energies' and all manner of 'ills'.
The ancients had to depend on the land to support their healing, their food, their shelter.
Because of this, they treated the Earth with great respect and admiration and held deep gratitude for Her generosity towards the support of their lives.
Wild Mint was a particular treasure because it could be used as a drink, a medicinal to be placed on wounds, and a scent to clear the air.

In the Loma Linda Hills, we are fortunate to have Wild Mint.
The other day during my morning hike, I came across a beautiful mint bush that was covered with frost from the frozen mist of the night.
Its tender leaves held the frost delicately and shared their beauty with me as I entered a narrow canyon.
The scent in the air from the mint bush was very heavy because of the lingering mist in this little canyon.
I found myself transported back in time to a dimension where these bushes represented healing and wellness.
How precious a creation.

I was reminded again of the beauty and power in the Earth.
I was reminded also of our need to remember this and not continue to disregard Mother Nature's gifts.

I offer my gratitude to the Creator for the opportunity to witness the beauty of
Winter and the Mint Bush.

Christmas Blessings

What a wonderful opportunity we have each year at this time to reflect on the wonders and miracles of life on this planet Earth.
It can be a time for us to remember those that have come before us and have sacrificed so much so that we might have the life and experience that we do.
It can be a time for us to remember the 'gifts' that we have received through our ancestors that have allowed us to build out our own work in the world.
It can be a time for us to remember all that it took to get us to where we are and honor those that have helped us along the way.

It is a time to remember our Source...our Creator...the presence of the Christ on Earth...the bridge that was built so that we may have a life full of abundance, hope, and possibility.
The gift of Christ makes all things possible.
It creates the 'Way' for us to move forward in the world.
It allows for a partnership with the Divine.
It blankets us with the support needed to make the world a better place.
The Christforce is the power to reach over to the other side, knowing that a loving God is always there, patient and compassionate...open and accepting...inviting us to engage more fully in relationship.

Just as the tree drives its roots deep within the Earth, let us recommit anew to honor the Earth with every part of our being.
Just as the tree grows strong in its trunk, let us grow strong in our connection to the Divine and in our commitment to being instruments of peace, joy, love and healing.
Just as the tree extends its branches and leaves to the Sun, let us recommit to reach out in service to others and sew seeds of 'only love'.

Engaging the Other...

This powerful image came from a conference entitled, Engaging the Other.
The words themselves are powerful.
They convey the power of connection with aspects outside of ourselves.
They invite us to wonder about the world that exists beyond the boundaries of our 'usual' selves.
So often, we draw our circles of experience so small...so exclusive...so narrow in focus...
But the world beyond our 'usual' experience is beckoning us to draw our circle wider and deeper than ever before.

Each new day comes with an invitation to choose to see with eyes that engage a new experience...eyes that release the old stereotypes.
Each day comes with an invitation to hear with ears that open to the suffering and the joys of others and learn from this experience while releasing all judgments.
Each new day comes with an invitation to smell the roses...to take the time to widen our experience by slowing down long enough to get the scent of a new world.
Each new day comes with an invitation to taste the sweetness and the bitterness of the delicacies that life has to offer.
And each new day comes with an invitation to touch in new ways...to engage the beauty, the wisdom, the love, the light, the courage, and the peace within the other...and to see it for the first time as a reflection of that which resides within us.

The richness of life is out there as well as in here...
It invites us to visit and get better acquainted with the other and with our own selves.

Take a Moment to Wonder....

Take a moment to hold this image in your mind...
Notice the textures of the colors...the dimensions of different aspects of the image...
Notice what part of the image you find yourself most connected to...
Allow yourself to move 'into' this part of the image and 'feel' it.
What kind of experience is this creating for you?
Does it make you feel good, happy, sad, fearful.....?
What stories does it bring up? What symbols does it create?

Try moving with the image...how is it 'inviting' you to move?

Do you sense any sounds coming from this image?
What do these sounds remind you of?

All of these experiences create a pathway for your intuition, your sixth sense,
to express itself.
By allowing yourself to 'wonder' and consider something in a deeper and more meaningful way, you allow it to teach you about itself.
You create a space that allows for consideration of the unseen world.
You choose to develop a relationship with those aspects of life that require a wider and deeper view.
By deepening your experience with this image, you may find yourself looking at all images differently in the future.

So it is with our life experiences...
If we take a moment to ask a few more questions and wonder more deeply about whatever we are doing, we will find a larger wisdom than that which exists on the surface.

Just as in the Ocean, the richness of life lies beneath the sea...

Balancing polarities

Within the world, there are forces...solar and lunar, masculine and feminine.
When these forces are balanced, the harmonics that result can be felt everywhere.
When these forces are out of balance, the lack of harmony can be felt everywhere.

For so many years, the solar forces, those that represent a focus on 'doing', have dominated our existence.
The natural state of 'being' associated with the lunar forces, has been in hibernation.
Our Earth, has rapidly become a land of compulsivity, always focused on 'more' and how we never have 'enough'.
We push, pull and tug to move ourselves forward, never waking up to realize that our struggle is getting us more stuck.
By quieting our minds and Spirits, we give ourselves a chance to quiet the world
around us as well...
To create a sanctuary right where we are...
To relish in 'no-thing'...
To celebrate 'no-sound'...
To make room for the still small voice of the Holy Spirit, even if for just a few moments.

Create the balance that will bring health, wellness, and vitality and abundance.
Offset the 'doing' with 'being'.
Bring yourself back into rhythm with the Heart of the Earth.

Drum Making - the Pathway of the Heart

All of us who participated in the Drum Making Workshop at Grace's House sensed that what we were doing was the work of the Heart.
As we focused on each aspect of the creation of the Drum, it became clear that this was no ordinary experience....
The Hoop of the Drum represented the Circle of Life...it gave us each an opportunity to honor our own unique journey and celebrate the challenges that we faced along the way.
The animal hide that became the 'face' of the Drum represented for many, our own skins...that which we have lived in for many moons...it was the physical part of our being, that which gets pushed and pulled on this walk of life.
As we stretched it over the hoop and began to tie the edges together, we each started to 'see' how the different aspects of our lives come together to make a meaningful whole.
As the laces crossed, so did the intersection of experiences of our lives, that were all so necessary in order to create the picture of who we have become.
Tying off each piece of the lace, represented tying off different segments of our lives and created completion for a job well done.
Creating the central handle, gave us a 'handle on our lives'...a place to connect, something to hold on to...
For each person, that handle was different...for some it was family, for some it was a job that brought meaning, for others, the search was still on for that handle to grasp onto...

And the awakening of the drum...well, that was the magic...that was the connection of the life to the heart...that which provides the emotion to energize the life, to in-spire the life, to set the life free to become all that it was intended to become.

Listening to voice of the heart of the Drum for the first time was like the sound of a little baby's first cry...it is an opening up, a coming forth, a moving out into the world.
It is a declaration that 'I am'...
It is a miracle of uniqueness, of beauty, of pure joy.

It is a new beginning...a chance to start over and embrace life fully and without reservation.