A Weekly Reflection: Those We Love

These past months have brought the deaths of or grave illness to many of my friends’ loved ones. As I have watched each handle the challenges and grief that have come into their families, I am humbled by the courage, strength and grace with which they have met this inevitable part of the cycle of life. 

I am also reminded that at some point in time, we all will face these same challenges and that the best we can do and hope for is to treasure the time we have with our friends and loved ones.  Remember to find meaningful ways to express gratitude for those in your life. To keep them aware and always in the knowledge that they are loved. To regularly hold your friends and loved ones close to you and feel their life’s blood beating in a heart that is akin to your own. Remember to look into eyes that are filled with the love you radiate out and never forget the precious gift of loving and being loved in return.

May You Love and Live Well…

Travel Through the Stars:The Hall of Cancer

As soon as you step through the archway and  the luminous white  glow of the Glyph of Cancer the smells of the ocean and its waters permeate your senses. The fullness of moonlight reflects back from water’s edge and there is a sense of stillness and anticipation as the waves gently crest and fall. You feel alive and connected to everything. Your senses are alive with sounds and sights that come in flashes of liquid and heart filled memory. Emotion wells up deep inside of you and the beauty and serenity of this place seems almost more than you can bear.  You pause for a moment regaining your composure and take a deep full breath to calm the rising emotions…….

Read More About the Astrological Sign of Cancer and this Pathworking at: 

Travel Through the Stars: A Monthly Walk Through the Zodiac

A Weekly Reflection: The Small Joys of Spirit

We are continually reminded to look towards and to take note of those blessings in our lives that would otherwise go unnoticed. The gentle smile of a stranger or precious time spent offering a kind word or act of encouragement and support.

We are told of the treasures that are to be found in stilling the mind and sitting simply and quietly in devotion to Deity. We are praised for selfless acts and move at times with the skill and precision of a surgeon in removing obstacles for those less fortunate than ourselves.

We offer up words of praise, comfort and inspiration and never skip a beat when speaking up for justice and equality. And, although these endeavors span far and wide they are still, nonetheless, only a fraction of measure of the joys we receive in kind from the Divine.

And, if you fill the space of your being with each of these “small” joys we eagerly offer to others in the name of God or Goddess, community or individual you will have built the bridge of foundation that connects to the very heart of the Divine. This bridge holds the expanse of heavenly gaze, the breadth of earth-filled beauty and the return to the joy of Spirit within that blazes brightly when fed by the gifts of service.

For it is within this flame of desire to serve and give that is contained the illumination of our greater gnosis quickened by the waters of transformation,
bolstered with the strength of perseverance and in the cumulative outpourings of a Spirit that has been nurtured by the lesser sum of its parts we return full circle to the small joys of Spirit.

A Weekly Reflection: Happy Father’s Day

To the men who have reached

out with a strong hand and an open

heart to help another on their way.

 

To the men who look out at the world in joy

and hope and share that vision of potential

with those around them. To those who

nurture that vision with a kind word and

a gentle hug.

 

To the men who have stood

in support of someone whose

voice had gone unheard.

 

To the men who have brought into

creation new ways of solving a

community’s problem, life-changing ideas

and been the inspiration for young men

and women just beginning the

journey of their life’s work.

 

To all those men who have

served as role model, mentor

and made a difference in the

life of their children or another’s-

 

Happy Father’s Day!

A Weekly Reflection: The Pregnant Pause

There is a way between voice and presence

where information flows.

In disciplined silence it opens.

With wandering talk it closes.

~ Jelaluddin Rumi ~

 

We are a society of talkers. With the increased dynamics of technology, that talking state continues at multiple levels simultaneously. Texting while emailing, chatting while twittering and listening to a lecture while plugged into the latest music are the normal (and expected) ways of interacting.  Despite the appearance of making this even more connected, we have lost the art of listening. Deep conversations held one to one, with the space and time for pause and reflection are now the rarity. Listening and observing the flow of the conversation, the facial expressions and the subtle nuances that an i-cam misses are honed skills that we seem to have lost touch with.

The greatest loss of all is that which is held in the space between conversing and listening; between word and silence. This is the space where creation takes place. Where what has been heard is mulled over, digested and stimulates creative response. It is this space of pregnant pause that holds the potential for birthing the deeper level of connection that we all so crave.

As we move through the week. take some time to connect with a fellow human being. Sit quietly and deeply listen to what is being said. Breathe, pause and wait to give a response that has been informed by the silence between. Give birth to a new way of interacting and see where this river of silence takes you.

A Weekly Reflection: Happy Mother’s Day

Happy Mother’s Day to those who have given birth to children, ideas, dreams, art, music and writing.

Happy Mother’s Day to those who have nurtured and prodded, encouraged and loved enough to bring out the best in another.

Happy Mother’s Day to those who have fought, cried out and stood in support of a cause or idea that would have fallen into the deep tombs apathy.

Happy Mother’s Day to those who have sacrificed and given their all when nothing was left to give to ensure the success of what they had given birth to.

Happy Mother’s Day to those who have boldly declared that no woman is barren and the fruits of her womb and the merit of her worth need not only be measured in physical life, but also in those seeds of inspiration and hope that enliven the aspirations of others.

Happy Mother’s Day top ALL women everywhere, for within each of you is the seed potential for creation!

A Weekly Reflection: Liberation

"Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate; our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, and fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small doesn't serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within is. It's not just in some of us; it's in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others."

From Marianne Williamson's book A Return to Love and was quoted by Nobel Prize–winner Nelson Mandela in his inaugural address.

I love this statement. The thought and action called for is so simple, yet most of us continually stand just at the brink of stepping into our own power. We wait to have our actions affirmed. We clamor for the degree or certificate or job that will announce our “arrival to success”. We eat less, exercise more and seek out the latest interventions to eradicate age, weight and appearance that in the eyes of others we think will diminish our beauty and strength.  In reality, all have to do is look in the mirror of our souls to see the power that is ours; listen to the words of those who love us unconditionally or see how another’s face lights up when we offer a smile or extend a hand.  When we embrace these things, as the quote above says … “as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same.”