As this year draws to its end,
We give thanks
for the gifts it brought
And how they became inlaid within
Where neither time
nor tide can touch them.
The days when the veil lifted
And the soul could see delight;
When a quiver
caressed the heart
In the sheer exuberance
of being here…
We bless this year
for all we learned,
For all we loved and lost
And for the quiet way
it brought us
Nearer to our invisible destination.
John O’Donohue
A sense of lightening, and expanding, a floating free.
For some it takes a single seamless sigh,
for others it is a more gradual ascension.
Either way works. Both astound the heart with unexpected
joy, both get us where we are going.
But an enormous irony separates the dying from the living -
a mirror effect in space.
Things are not what they appear.
Each stage of the body shutting down liberates something within.
Each outer manifestation of death is accompanied
by an increasingly expansive aliveness within.
In dying, as in meditation, the deeper we go the less
definable we become, and the more real we feel.
Immobility is the first outer sign of death,
but as the element of solidity dissolves
there is a sense of being unbound
as pain disappears into a new freedom of movement.
It’s like taking off a shoe that was too tight.
Then the circulatory system closes down, as the fluid
element withdraws into the departing life force,
opening within a sense of increasing fluidity.
A feeling of being more like an ocean than a boulder.
The body cools as the fire element converges in the heart
and exits through the top of the head.
We sense a rising upward,
like heat radiating from the sunstruck highway.
Lastly, the body becomes rigid and looks more like marble.
than flesh as the air element disappears into space,
as the lightness expands into something yet lighter.
Passing beyond dying into death
a sense of boundless expansion,
of unlimited possibility,
continues the inner process.
Dropping our body is like watching an ice cube melt.
We lose our defining shape,
as we return to our fluid center,
and to evaporate into thin air.
Expanding to fill the room invisible and ever-present.
Like the ice cube we go through enormous external changes
but our essence remains unaffected.
What was once the ice cube is still absolutely H2O.
And we are still the immense unnameable.
Dying into death is like that.
Death is another matter altogether.
Life is the grossest form of the death is another matter altogether.
Anyhow, as Ondrea says,
Life is the grossest form of being.
Stephen Levine
Let’s be clear that few people are committed to God’s work. Of those who say they are, only a handful are actively demonstrating that commitment. Don’t expect the world to support your journey to authenticity. It will not!
The world supports only what it understands. And right now all it understands is duty and sacrifice. That will change in time. But don’t expect it too soon. Don’t go into your lifework with the hope of worldly support and approval.
Those who understand my teachings and try to live them are often treated with disdain by the world. Don’t be surprised if this happens to you. It is not a sign of divine disapproval that other men and women feel envious of or threatened by you.
If this happens, bear it patiently and send love and acceptance to others. When they see that you have their highest good at heart, they will soften to you. If you are committed to the journey, your patience will be rewarded. But, if you are seeking approval or recognition, you will not find it.
Pay no mind to the religion of abundance. That is no more true nor helpful than the religion of sacrifice. God does not necessarily reward spiritual work with material success. All rewards are spiritual. Happiness, joy, compassion, peace, sensitivity: these are the rewards for a life lived in integrity.
If material success does not come, it is not important. If it seems important, and resentment develops, then more ego simply needs to be stripped away. One must learn, once and for all, to stop measuring spiritual riches with a worldly yardstick.
If material success comes, it is often a test to see if one can transcend self-interest and greed. One who is unwilling to share his material wealth with others is not spiritual.
Material wealth, like all other gifts, is given that it may be shared with others. If you are holding onto God’s gift to you, you will not reap the reward of true prosperity, which is happiness and peace.
Don’t make the mistake of thinking that your lifework must bring in a large paycheck. If you believe this, and your work does not meet with worldly success, you will think you have chosen the wrong work. You will feel inadequate and unworthy. You will beat yourself up and abandon your gift.
On the other hand, don’t make the mistake of thinking that you must be poor to serve God. A rich person can serve God as well as one of humble means if he is willing to share his riches. It matters not how much you hold in your hands, but whether your hands are extended outward to your brother or sister. Look from the inside out, look into your heart, at your intention, and you will see things as God sees them.
All men and women are entrusted with a gift. It does not matter how one person’s gift compares to that of another. What matters is that each person comes to embrace the gift and offer it to others.
Paul Ferrini
As a newborn babe I crawl from my mother’s womb
And stand on wobbly legs in the new world;
Wash the new body that has just been
So tenderly born from a lifetime labor,
And walk to stand before the fire.
I raise my face to your infinite sky
And feel your touch of grace:
Your gentle raindrops kissing my skin,
Your singing wind that moves the trees,
The hot breath of your dancing fire,
Your wet, rich earth beneath my feet
O Spirit, I recognize you now:
My father, my mother, my unseen lover—
You’ve been here always in all things;
In all things has your spirit lived for me;
From all things has your spirit loved me.
Through all things has your spirit touched me.
And never was I left alone, nor could I be
In this truer world of holy people
And living stone.
Rochelle Wallace
Oh Great Spirit
Whose voice I hear the winds,
And whose breath gives life to all the world,
hear me! I am small and weak, I need your strength
and wisdom.
Let me walk in beauty, and make my eyes
ever behold the red and purple sunset.
Make my hands respect the things you have made
and my ears sharp to hear your voice.
Make me wise so that I may understand the things you have taught my people.
Let me learn the lessons you have hidden in every leaf and rock.
I seek strength, not to be greater than my brother,
but to fight my greatest enemy – myself.
Make me always ready to come to you with clean hands and straight eyes.
So when life fades, as the fading sunset,
my spirit may come to you without shame.
Anonymous
Dear God,
I have been betrayed.
Take me away from this pain.
Let me not be tempted to wrong those who have
wronged me, or hate those who hate me.
But rather, dear God, please use Your power on
my behalf,
That through Your love I might invoke the light,
That through Your forgiveness I might speed
resurrection,
That through Your grace the spirit of the Lord
might enter and make all things right.
Let me not be tempted by darkness, even
though it is all around me.
Let me continue to see the good in others,
Even when they have turned the arrows of their
fear at me.
Be my shield, dear Lord.
And please be my protector.
Awaken in others the truth in their hearts.
And awaken the same in me.
I have faith in You, dear God to right all
wrongs, to make all things clear, to bring
light out of apparent darkness.
I hold to You.
I bless those who have not blessed me.
I forgive them and I forgive myself.
Or so do I wish to do.
I ask for Your help.
I pray for comfort.
Thank You very much.
Amen.
Marianne Williamson
I am the child of the universe.
She puts her almighty protection around me.
I am free from accidents, death, sickness.
I am now shining with golden light from top to toe.
I am her chosen protected child, and she is my shield.
The winds shall aid my progress.
Water shall cleanse me from fear,
Fire will purify my doubts.
And the earth shall nourish me to health.
All is well, all is well, all is well.
Zsuzsanna E. Budapest
1. You will receive a body. You may like it or hate
it, but it’s yours to keep for the entire period.
2. You will learn lessons. You are enrolled in a
full-time informal school called, “life.”
3. There are no mistakes, only lessons. Growth is a
process of trial, error, and experimentation. The
“failed” experiments are as much a part of the
process as the experiments that ultimately “work.”
4. Lessons are repeated until they are learned. A
lesson will be presented to you in various forms
until you have learned it. When you have learned it,
you can go on to the next lesson.
5. Learning lessons does not end. There’s no part of
life that doesn’t contain its lessons. If you’re
alive, that means there are still lessons to be
learned.
6. “There” is no better a place than “here.” When
your “there” has become a “here”, you will simply
obtain another “there” that will again look better
than “here.”
7. Other people are merely mirrors of you. You
cannot love or hate something about another person
unless it reflects to you something you love or hate
about yourself.
8. What you make of your life is up to you. You have
all the tools and resources you need. What you do
with them is up to you. The choice is yours.
9. Your answers lie within you. The answers to
life’s questions lie within you. All you need to do
is look, listen, and trust.
10. You will forget all this.
And then compassion will be wedded to power
And then softness will come to a world that is harsh and unkind
And then both men and women will be gentle
And then both men and women will be strong
And then no person will be subject to another’s will
And then all will be rich and free and varied
And then the greed of some will give way to the needs of many
And then all will equally share in the Earth’s abundance
And then we will all care for the sick and the weak and the old
And then all will nourish the young
And then all will cherish life’s creatures
And then all will live in harmony with each other and the Earth
And then everywhere will be called Eden once again
Judy Chicago
Understand that here in this moment, there is nothing wrong with you or your life. Everything is as it should be. Right now, in this moment, you are completely loved.
Are you in pain or conflict? Okay. But that does not mean that you are not completely loved. The idea that being in pain cuts you off from love is an idea that you have imposed on the situation. In truth, nothing cuts you off from love, save your own beliefs. And that is why you are in pain in the first place. You are in pain because you think and feel that you have been cut off from love.
You invert the truth of the situation. You made a cause an effect and effect a cause. That is your fear in action.
Understand this so that you can see beyond it. Let your awareness deepen. See your whole ego drama for what it is.
Paul Ferrini