Flow Like the River - Roaring Fork River - Carbondale, Colorado
This aloneness is worth more than a thousand lives. This freedom is worth more than all the lands on earth. To be one with the truth for just one moment, is worth more than the world and life itself. Rumi
The Gaelic word ‘saoirse’ means freedom – and it’s freedom of a particular type. Saoirse is the freedom to be and to express yourself, the freedom to think and believe what you like; it’s freedom of the spirit and the imagination. Saoirse and ‘aimsir’ – time – are, I believe, the two most valuable things a person can possess. … Both money and institutions are used to strip people of their freedom, and, if they take your mind, they’ve taken everything. Diana Beresford-Kroger, To Speak for the Trees: My Life’s Journey from Ancient Celtic Wisdom to a Healing Vision of the Forest
Sadly, I don’t know much about my Celtic roots, although my grandfather’s last name, Downing, suggests their presence. I wonder what he knew of his ancient roots, as they were never shared around a family gathering table. And yet, based on a keen interest in Celtic practices listening to and honoring the land, I sense my cells ‘know’ something that I have yet to consciously access.
In sharing a particular story about her journey and her work, Beresford-Kroger’s words touched and have been present with me since reading it several days ago. As I reflected on the story and the wisdom that emerged on her path, I saw it woven with Rumi’s ancient wisdom about the nature of freedom itself. And that led to this week’s stream of reflection about the times we’re walking through.
“When we lose our way, we strike out.” These words come as I think about bearing witness to divisiveness, fear, and the expressions that follow in this time. When we lose our way, when we lose our connection, our conscious awareness to that which sources Life. We seek to control and conquer. We create ‘theys’, others, to blame, shame, punish and, at the worst, attempt to eliminate.
As I write this, I’m aware that my words too create ‘theys’, others who in my thinking have lost their way, awareness of their precious connection to Source. As you read, perhaps you’ll see or sense the conundrum too. It seems that the Truth of Oneness is at odds with the ways of our world. Because it is!
Such reflections are not new to my thinking and writing these weekly posts. And, by no means are they breaking new ground. No matter the name, the Truth of Oneness, unity consciousness, inter-being, interconnectedness is a Truth known throughout the ages and passed down in many wisdom forms. It is the essence of our journey as Spiritual Beings expressing ourselves (our cells) in physical bodies, our human experience, our walk on the Earth.
This is the essence of our challenge in this pivotal time: to walk this earth in the Truth of our connection to Source while navigating systems that deny the Truth. It is the opportunity of our time as we move fully into the Age of Aquarius (Yes! That’s a real thing!!), in a dance with Mother Earth and the cosmos. An opportunity that invites us to co-create with Source new systems, structures, communities, and relationships that are guided by, aligned with, and sourced from that which Sources Life. A knowing that this Source is the source of all we strive for – peace, abundance, security, love, and, yes, freedom. The very freedom of which Rumi and Beresford-Kroeger speak.
While governments, institutions, others may attempt to stamp out freedom, they are not the Source of true freedom, the freedom of the Soul to follow its path guided by its keep knowing and abiding in Source. We are free whether we claim it and walk it or not.
Be Deeply Rooted, Stand Tall, Touch the Sky