Too Much of a Good Thing?

Hazy evening in the Sangres

Peace cannot be achieved by violence, it can only be attained through understanding. Ralph Waldo Emerson

Here we are one day beyond the mid-point of the 64 days in the Season for Nonviolence. The muse is curious that I’ve stayed with a theme and carried it forward each week, a different experience in these weekly musings, starting from a not quite blank slate.

The themes this week led me to wonder if there is a point beyond which too much of a good thing becomes an obstacle. And, if so, what is that point?

Take patience, one of this week’s themes, for example. Do I want to be patient with injustice? With inequality? Poverty? Hunger? Degradation of the environment?  Can we take patience too far?  Perhaps patience has a pivot point: being patient with self, with others, and the process while not allowing that patience to become indifference or giving up. That point we must each determine for ourselves. No wonder Pema Chodron’s words ring true: Patience is not learned in safety.

The week’s other themes included generosity, listening, forgiveness, making amends, conflict resolution, and acknowledgment/appreciation.  Is there a point beyond which too much might get in the way of creating a nonviolent culture?

Acknowledgement seems an especially important ingredient for nonviolence given our current political culture and the violence that occurred as a result of the failure of a candidate for president to acknowledge defeat. From my perspective (and I acknowledge that some will disagree), this lack of acknowledgement reinforces the wedge that perpetuates our ‘us vs. them’ political and social culture.

But admitting the reality of something is only one aspect of acknowledgement. Recognition and appreciation are equally important. What if we would recognize the good in another’s point of view or in their way of being? What if we would recognize and appreciate the fear that many have toward others who are different?  What do I need to acknowledge that will contribute to nonviolence? Who/what do I need to recognize and appreciate?

Our capacity to acknowledge and appreciate grows from generosity in our listening, in being willing to forgive and make amends and in our willingness to engage in resolving our differences using nonviolent approaches.

In reflecting daily on these themes, I continue to be reminded that the journey of nonviolence starts within. Perhaps that factor is the root of our challenge to create a culture of nonviolence. We have yet to reach the point where our collective will pivots toward nonviolence and peace. While the journey starts within, it ripples beyond to the village required. How I contribute to that pivot today?

Nonviolence in the Woods Out Back

Discovering Fire Anew

A Home in the Woods

Some day after mastering the winds, the waves, the tides and gravity, we shall harness the energies of love. And then, for the second time in the history of the world, we will have discovered fire. Pierre Teilhard de Chardin

Stillness. I was called to stillness this week. Quiet. Stillness. Inward. Outward. Expressionless Expression. Thoughtful without thought. Within. Without. Fullness. Emptiness. Rest. Deep Rest. Body rest. Mind rest. Spirit rest. Rest to restore. Rest for reset. Rest for the new. Rest to renew. Stillness. Quiet. Rest.

In quiet stillness, I continued to follow and reflect on the theme each day in the Gandhi King Season for Nonviolence. The themes included self-forgiveness, inspiration, mission, prayer, harmony, friendliness, respect. As in the themes leading to this point each resonated to different parts of my being.

Harmony, my personal ‘favorite’ this week, found me exploring acceptance and tolerance and recognizing just how violent unjust criticism of both self and others is.  I saw that each theme is not a goal to reach but a quality, a way of being, to be built from the inside out. Moment to moment. Day to day.

From that insight, inspiration found me wanting to celebrate those moments where I meet what nonviolence asks of me, while self-forgiveness reminded me to be gentle when I fall short.

Somewhere along the way, I saw (in a blinding flash of the obvious) with crystal clarity that LOVE is the essence in all of nonviolence and in the themes offered each day in the Season. Without love, the themes are simply words and any action stemming from them without love is dull, empty, impermanent. On the other hand, with love our words and actions are everlasting, full, and bright. Imagine a world where we each embrace ‘harnessing the energies of love’ as our mission. Imagine yourself and others navigating life with the respect and friendliness that the energy of love commands.

I’m imagining that I’m building my capacity to harness the energy of love and to pour that love into every person, every event I encounter (and, yes, I have a L O N G way to go to meet that high standard of ‘every’). But taking on that as purpose and mission reminds me of the truth that we are all one of the One. We are not separate from Source or from one another. Violence toward another is violence toward self just as love toward another is an expression of self-love.

My prayer for humanity and for our planet is that we ‘let peace be on the earth and let it begin with me’. Give yourself a few moments to allow this beautiful version (click here) to wash over you and to enter your being.

A Snowy Day at the Ziggurat

The Fabric of Nonviolence

Nature’s Art: The Beauty of Fresh Snow

To bring about peace in the world, to stop all wars, there must be a revolution in the individual, in you and me. What will bring peace is inward transformation which will lead to outward action. There can be right action only when there is right thinking and there is no right thinking when there is no self-knowledge. Without knowing yourself, there is no peace. Jiddu Krishnamurti (Daily Inspiration for February 2, 2021 from Pace e Bene - Campaign Nonviolence)

Perhaps this is what is so difficult about creating a culture of nonviolence: ultimately it is up to each of us, to our personal commitment to create peace within so that the threads we weave in our lives are threads of nonviolence. That concept is what drew me into my commitment to explore nonviolence each day during the 64 days of the Season for Nonviolence, honoring the legacies of Mohandas Gandhi and Martin Luther King Jr. https://gandhiinstitute.org/season-for-nonviolence/

While the themes for some days inspire me more than others, I recognize each as an important thread in the fabric of a nonviolent culture. This past week, I made the decision to watch much of the impeachment trial live. I revisited the shock, disbelief, and sadness I felt when violence broke out that fateful Wednesday just as I finished my weekly post. I wanted to witness the proceedings rather than rely on some reporter’s summary. I was curious and I felt a sense of civic duty to engage in that way.

In the wake of the trial, I began to question our system of justice and how it may discourage, even act as a block, to nonviolence. What threads might that system, indeed each of our public systems and structures, contribute to building a culture of nonviolence? What threads need to be dropped? These bigger, systemic question provided a backdrop for my personal musing on each day’s theme.

Today (day 19) the theme, acceptance, offers the opportunity to reflect on that which we find difficult to accept both in ourselves and others. I wonder how I might go beyond my judgements and resistance to fully accept the true essence of others, especially those whose words and deeds I experience as offensive or wrong.

I consider this as I look at the decisions and actions of political leaders and activists on all ‘sides’ as well as when I encounter a disheartening post on social media, especially those written by people I know. How do I/we accept ‘what is’ while holding the possibility for change as well as advocating and participating in bringing change about? Isn’t this what a commitment to nonviolence asks of us?

Other threads likewise offered points of reflection, questions to explore within. Reverence (day 15) brought me to a question that I’ve mused before: how can I deepen my reverence for ALL life? What do I most deeply revere? What is sacred? I began to imagine a world where we speak and act from this place.

Creativity (day 13) reminded to be aware of my ways of being, my thoughts, words, and deeds. What am I creating with them? Humility (day 14) and Gratitude (day 16) offered opportunities to reflect on my willingness to acknowledge when I err, to be humble in the face of life’s opportunities (often disguised as problems and challenges) AND to be grateful for those circumstances and people who offer up such opportunities.

Freedom (day 18) had me continuing a long-held question about the true source and nature of freedom. On day 17, integrity offered up the opportunity to explore how to live more fully aligned with my heart, what it knows to be true and its desires for the future I want to contribute to.

These seven threads, the 12 before and the 45 that remain are points of exploration and possibility for imagining a world where I/we speak and act to weave a culture of peace. May our weaving continue!

Nature Highlights Art

Being Grounded is Key to Nonviolence

Sturdy Old Pine in the Woods Out Back

The nonviolent approach does not immediately change the heart of the oppressor. It first does something to the hearts and souls of those committed to it. It gives them new self-respect; it calls up resources of strength and courage that they did not know they had. Finally it reaches the opponent and so stirs his conscience that reconciliation becomes a reality. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Dr. King’s words touched me deeply when I read them on Monday, day 8 of the Gandhi King Season of Nonviolence with its theme of faith. I have faith that this dream can become a reality.

This week with the impeachment trial and revisiting the January 6 violence here in the U.S. it seems especially important that I’m taking time each day to tune in to the day’s nonviolence theme. We need not just a ‘season’ of nonviolence, we need to make nonviolence our predominate way of life. Not the ‘other’, those with whom we disagree or worse, but weeding out the roots of nonviolence in our own hearts and minds. This is great potential of our time.

I continue to find those roots as they show up in the events and interactions of daily life, each an opportunity to pause, breathe, and remember what my heart knows to be true: that we are all connected and that everyone has their story; we are all different, we are all the same.

I find that each day’s theme resonates differently, some more than others. As I began to reflect on today’s theme, groundedness, I recognized how important being grounded is to my ability to practice – indeed to live – from the powerful stance of nonviolence.  How do I/we stay grounded in a world where all too often chaos reigns?

As those who’ve been reading these weekly muses for a while know, I’m blessed to live in the quiet, grounding beauty of the Sangre de Cristo mountains in southern Colorado. Simply looking out into the woods that surround me grounds me in the reality that Gaia, Mother Earth, is my home/our home.   Peaceful daily walks with Zadie Byrd help me stay grounded. The impatience with her sometimes slow pace that I mentioned last week [click here if you missed it] melted this week when I learned that her vision has become impaired and that she’s developing arthritis, both contributing to her need to slow down and frequently stop.

As my impatience with her gave way to care and compassion, I set an intention of shifting other triggers of impatience to remembering oneness, to care, to compassion, knowing that I don’t know the story of why, for example, some folks drive at what I consider to be speeds way to fast on our rural, unpaved roads. As Dr. King reminds us, nonviolence is first an inside job.

I thought about that as I watched video on the first day of the impeachment trial. I wondered about the groundedness of those who participated in the violence of January 6 at the Capitol. Could someone grounded in Mother Earth and remembering that we are each one part of a greater whole perpetrate violence of any sort?

I ask that question without judgement and from a deep curiosity about how it is that we humans have for so long chosen the path of ‘power over’ rather than the truer path of calling on the ‘power within’.

Perhaps, as Gandhi suggested, we have forgotten who we are:

To forget how to dig in the earth and tend the soil is to forget ourselves. Mohandas Gandhi

And Black Elk further reminds us of grounding in the earth, our home:

Some little root of the sacred tree still lives. Nourish it, that it may leaf and bloom and fill with singing birds.

More importantly, I wonder how we cross this great divide between power over and power within, and thus land in where our true power lies?

Being grounded seems key, a starting point, foundation if you will, for examining our habits, our words, our choices and for changing them, with the intention to build our capacity for nonviolence.

As I look out at the pines in these woods, witnessing their height and their sturdiness, I think about the vast root systems through which nutrients and cooperative communication flow. How might we who walk here on the surface of this hallowed earth operate more like the trees that make our living on the planet possible?

Being in such questions with the deep belief that we can create our world differently helps me maintain my groundedness. I take the questions on my walks and carry them in me when I join friends to work in their winter growing dome. The questions live in me, not with pressure to find or know the answers, but with curiosity and a dream that one day nonviolence will prevail from the strength of practicing it in our hearts and our souls in daily life, lifting the consciousness of ourselves and all on the planet.

A Grounding Sight - Gentle Deer Resting in the Woods

Making Life a Sacred Journey of Nonviolence

Neighborhood Street Signs Make Me Smile!

Fighting, cheating, and bullying have trapped us in our present situation; now we need training in new practices to find a way out. It may seem impractical and idealistic, but we have no alternative to compassion, recognizing human value and the oneness of humanity.  The Dalai Lama (2/3/21 quote from Pace e Bene Nonviolence Services Nonviolent Life: Daily Inspiration for Your Nonviolent Journey – more info here)

Compassion, human value, the oneness of humanity. These qualities sum up for me the first five days of the Gandhi King Season for Nonviolence which began on January 30, the anniversary of Gandhi’s assassination and ends on April 4, the anniversary of the assassination of Martin Luther King. I’m engaging in awareness of each day’s theme in my life with the intention of erasing tendencies I have toward violence. You can find the themes here and here.

Day 1 on Saturday seemed to appear out of nowhere. Could it really be the end of January already? Yes, and now February is well underway. The theme for Day 1 was courage, a necessary ingredient in nonviolence. The day’s message offered a deepened felt sense of unity with all that is. Oneness. I am a part of everything. Everything is a part of me. Everything we think, say, do matters.

When you discover that everyone is contained in you and you are contained in everyone, you have realized the unity of life … Then you are not just a person; you have become a beneficial force. (From AGNT’s daily mediation Day 1).

This is BEing the change I wish to see in the world. Simple to envision. Not so easy for most of us to live moment to moment, day to day from this place. Courage is needed to buck the violence in our culture and to break the arc toward violence of the habits I’ve developed along the way: seemingly small, yet costly, negative reactions to some of what crosses my path in the course of a day: a snap judgement about something or someone in the news or a post on social media; impatience with Zadie Byrd when she wants to stop and sniff and I want to keep going. Recognizing that these are acts of violence (toward myself more than others) is a sacred act.

Life’s events are just that: sacred acts giving us the sovereign choice of how we will react or respond. When I take a walk with Zadie as a sacred act of care for both of us, my impatience wanes. My teacher Zadie Byrd, like Cool Hand Luke before her, reminds me in her own way to ‘stop and smell the pines’ (no roses here in the woods you know!).

Recognizing Zadie Byrd as one of my teachers in nonviolence, brought a smile to my face on Day 2 when the theme was smiling. I chuckled as I realized that my impatience is the place where my experience of the peace of nonviolence ends. My life-long learning of tolerance – a key to experiencing the truth of unity – continues! Thich Nhat Hanh reminds us:

If in our daily life, we can smile … not only we, but everyone will profit from it. This is the most basic kind of peace work.

Everything we do matters. A smile from the heart is a sacred act of nonviolence. Smile!

The ‘season’ continued with Day 3’s theme, appreciation, which flowed easily from the awareness of Days 1 and 2. It reminded me that appreciation is one of the keys to heart coherence. Day 4, caring, offered a reminder of the importance of self-care as a demonstration of nonviolence.

Today is Day 5, believing, and poses the question: what do I believe about nonviolence? Do I believe that each moment of tolerance and patience, every smile (masked or not!), every experience of unity and connection matter, and that care for myself and others are sacred acts toward creating a culture of nonviolence? I do. I believe that is true for each of us. We can do this! Indeed we must.

Teacher Zadie Byrd Rolling in the Snow - Also Makes Me Smile!

Pivoting to the Feminine

The Beauty and Softness of a Winter Morning

Western women will save the world. His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama

Several threads woven through my week focus on the idea, the necessity really, of integrating feminine principles and energy fully into our culture. Wikipedia lists the following as traits of the feminine:  nurturance, sensitivity, sweetness, supportiveness, gentleness, warmth, passivity, cooperativeness, expressiveness, modesty, humility, empathy, affection, tenderness, and being emotional, kind, helpful, devoted, and understanding. Who among us would not agree that more expressions of these qualities will make the world a better place?

Women as well as expressions of these principles were, from my perspective, front and center in both the Inauguration of President Biden last week and in the new President’s first week of executive actions and his communication with we the people.  I found that refreshing, inspiring, and hopeful.

His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama is famously quoted for saying that 'Western women would save the world' at the Vancouver Peace Summit in 2009. He went on to say "Some people may call me a feminist...But we need more effort to promote basic human values — human compassion, human affection. And in that respect, females have more sensitivity for others' pain and suffering."

Those words came to mind instantly when Alice Walker’s poem 'Calling All Grand Mothers' published in 2010 landed in my inbox, giving further voice to the urgency of this pivot. 

Calling All Grand Mothers

We have to live
differently
 
or we
will die
in the same
 
old ways.
 
Therefore
I call on all Grand Mothers
everywhere
on the planet
to rise
and take your place
in the leadership
of the world ….

You can read the rest of this timely, poignant poem from Hard Times Require Furious Dancing here:

The feminine is not solely about what we DO, but rather how and who we BE.  It is not about gender or sexual preference. Men, women, LGBT, straight, all of us have access to the energy that is feminine. 

It is about the perspectives we hold in life and the beliefs and actions that follow. A few days ago a Facebook post shared by a friend related a conversation between two men talking over a beer. One got up saying he was going to go 'wash the dishes'. The other seemed surprised and said "I don't help my wife." The man going to wash the dishes replied that he wasn't 'helping his wife', that he lived in the home and had a responsibility to participate in its care. That represents collaboration, cooperation, empathy and so many other feminine principles in action!

A deep knowing that ‘we have to live differently’ has long been a theme running through these weekly muses and my life in general.  I often ask myself ‘what do I need to shift to be a better partner on and to the planet?’.  Powerfully weaving more feminine threads into my expressions of life seems to be an element of the answer. Join me?

Zadie Byrd’s New Friend

A New Day

A Sunny Inauguration Morning in the Rockies

… The most dangerous words are ‘us and them’ … Madeleine Albright, former United States Secretary of State

These were among the first words I heard this morning as I turned on the TV upon rising to take in what I hoped would be the majesty of this Inauguration Day transferring power from the 45th President to the 46th.

The majesty was without a doubt present. Yet it was muted by the absence of a large, celebratory crowd and the presence of concertina wire and National Guard troops made necessary by an almost year-long pandemic and the attempted coup at the Capitol two short weeks ago. A day to celebrate – yes.

It is also a day to go within – to reflect on what democracy truly means and our responsibility, individually and collectively, to participate in creating “… a more perfect Union …” “…with liberty and justice for all.”

How will we respond to the new President’s call to unity? How will we talk with those whose views differ from ours? How will we “open our souls instead of hardening our hearts”?

The work of the soul is a deeply personal journey, work that then reflects the thoughts we think, the words we speak and the actions we take. I believe we have a President who has done the work of the soul. President Biden committed to put his soul fully into healing the divide.  What might our world look like if we all do the same?

These are the pivots. This is our souls’ work. This is our time.

Early Morning in the San Luis Valley

Breaking the Chain

A Colorado Blue Sky Afternoon - Blanca Peak in the Distance

Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that. Hate multiplies hate, violence multiplies violence, and toughness multiplies toughness in a descending spiral of destruction ... The chain reaction of evil - hate begetting hate, wars producing more wars - must be broken, or we shall be plunged into the dark abyss of annihilation.  Martin Luther King

I’m guessing that, just as I have, you’ve spent some time (perhaps a little, perhaps a lot) reflecting on and reacting to the violence perpetrated in the U.S. Capitol on all of us (not just those who were doing our business in that sacred temple of democracy) one week ago. Although my reactions have run the gamut – rage, sadness, concern, disgust, gratitude (for those who serve and that what could have been a massacre was quelled before more were injured or killed) - I’ve aimed to maintain calm and a sense of being grounded.

The irony (or perhaps synchronicity?) that my topic last week was nonviolence (read it here) wasn’t lost on me even though last week the muse was focused on the violence in western medicine’s approach to health. The timing was a reminder that everything and everyone are a part of everything else. We are each one of the One. I am as much a part of the perpetrators as I am of the peacekeepers, of those who hate and those who love, of those who promote violence and those committed to breaking the chain of violence.

I am as much a part of those whose political views are diametrically opposed to mine as am of those with whom I agree. And, of those who believe that this life in this body is all there is as I am of those who believe that the body is but a vehicle that their soul uses to navigate and learn throughout the ages. I’m as much a part of western medicine as I am of eastern, natural, holistic approaches; of those who subscribe to so called ‘conspiracy theories’ and those who rely solely on what they hear on so called ‘mainstream media’.

Holding this as my truth along with my deep connection with nature are anchors that help me stay grounded (or return fairly quickly when I’m triggered) in what’s true for my soul. And, what’s true for our souls, indeed, all souls, is what matters in this infinite Universe where today’s events are but a blip on the endless timeline of the Universe.

It is time to break the chains of separation and competition that foment violence. It is time to discover and create new systems that nurture nonviolence. It is time to build our soul force individually and collectively. Throughout my reflections and my observations of events this week the words ‘condemn the action, not the person’ have consistently popped into my awareness. Perhaps this is one small step we can each take toward breaking the chains that bind us toward violence as we seek justice, peace and to build a world which recognizes the truth of who we are.

Winter’s Art

War Is Not The Answer

Winter Clouds Over the Sacred Sangres

The power of nonviolence is not circumstance-specific. It is as applicable to the problems that confront us now, as to problems that confronted generations in the past. It is not a medicine or a solution so much as a healing process. It is the active spiritual immune system of humanity. Marianne Williamson (The Healing of America - 1997)

The above quote popped out at me one recent morning after experiencing a deep sense of the need to shift consciousness, individually and collectively, around what we call ‘disease’. The message came through loud and clear:

War and fighting are not the paths for ending the current pandemic OR future ones. Rather than attack diseases as enemies, reach out with love and curiosity to discover what messages they hold for healing, growth, and humanity’s evolution. Just as we have the potential to cultivate peace with one another, we hold the potential to cultivate health - physically, mentally, and spiritually.

As I reflected on that message and as Williamson’s words suggest, nonviolence holds the potential to address the myriad of 'ills' that individual humans and humanity collectively suffer: poverty, racial discrimination, hate, conflict, injustice, inequality, etc. etc.

We need to stop. To listen with mind, heart, and gut. We need to hear ourselves, our bodies and we need to respond to their pleadings to create health not simply fight off disease when it occurs or vaccinate ourselves against it. The body has vast capabilities to heal and to stay healthy IF we will create an environment within which it can do its job. Clean water; nourishing organic foods; exercise; reducing stress and fear; and maintaining a positive outlook on life can do wonders to create the magic of health in our bodies. This is the foundation of a nonviolent approach to health.

We need to listen to one another.  We need to listen to those with whom we agree and, especially, to those whose views are contrary to our own. We need to hear one another from the heart, not just the head. We need to seek not victory as the paradigms of war and competition promote, but unity. We need to more deeply understand that we are all connected, indeed that everything is connected; and to develop new systems and approaches to thriving lives on our planet. This, for me, is the nature of nonviolence that both Mohandas Gandhi and Martin Luther King suggested in their words and in their deeds.

Perhaps now as a new year begins is a time to commit or to re-commit to learning, practicing, and engaging nonviolence in ALL aspects of life. The 24th ‘Season for Nonviolence’ beginning on January 30th and ending on April 4th offers one approach to such engagement.

Established in 1998 by Arun Gandhi to honor his grandfather and Dr. King, the ‘season’ begins on the anniversary of Gandhi’s assassination and continues for 64 days, ending on the anniversary of the MLK’s assassination. Now convened each year by the Association for Global New Thought (AGNT), this year’s theme is ’64 days, 64 ways’.

I haven’t yet chosen my path for expanding my commitment to and practice of nonviolence, so I invite you to join me in learning more here and finding a path that fits your schedule, your style, and the personal commitment you wish to make to our individual and collective evolution.

Ending Note: As I complete this post, peaceful protest in the nation’s capital seems to be giving way to violence. May the power of peace and love prevail.

New Year Sunset

Adios 2020!

Even Cottonwood Creek is smiling as the promise of a new year edges closer.

As I begin to update what has become my annual ‘Auld Lang Syne’ final post of the year, the online countdown clock indicated that it’s 1 day, 10 hours, 14 minutes, 37 seconds until the new year is rung in here in the Colorado Rockies. But, hey, who’s counting?

Almost everyone is waiting with bated breath to bid adieu to the tumultuous year 2020 will be remembered for around the globe. We want to turn the page. We long to dive deeply into the fresh start that began with the Solstice promise of our personal newness and culminates as we replace our 2020 calendars with new pages of promise and possibility that the coming year has the potential to bring forth.

It is, as always, up to us – individually and collectively – to bring potential to fruition. As sure as the light is returning day by day, we will have opportunities to do just that in the days, weeks, and months ahead.

While the first year of this second decade of the 21st century held much tragedy and darkness, it also shined lights of love and in dark corners needing our attention and care.  May we each be a part of shining the light of love in all the days ahead.

As I reflect on saying ‘Goodbye’ and refrain from saying ‘good riddance’, my year end reflections first written at the end of 2016 seem as apropos today as they did four years ago.

 “Give up the last year. Get rid of all those things of the mundane world. Make room for the awareness of a whole new spiritual understanding that will carry you throughout the next year.” Gregge Tiffen (The Winter Solstice: Giving To Yourself, December 2007)

“… and when you have the willingness to accept who you are, you become aware of an internal flame that burns with a fire that is unquenchable. It’s your acceptance that dispels fears and inadequacies.”  Gregge Tiffen (Open Secrets: Sacred Passageways, December 2011)

As the calendar year winds to a close, we tend to look back on its joys, its sorrows, what we accomplished, where we may have fallen short. Hopefully our review list includes acknowledging all that we discovered about ourselves and learned from the opportunities and events that life presented.

As 2020 ends, many will breathe a sigh of relief that it is finally over along with a breath of hope for better days in the year ahead.  The world we live in is chaotic and uncertain. It is. Those who put attention on the world forgetting that it is the world we live IN, NOT the world we are OF may look ahead with dread.

That need not be. Within each of us is a seed of understanding who we truly are. Nurturing that seed grows our faith in our capacity to be resilient in the face of the world’s chaos.

This seed of faith is within us all. It is not faith in anything outside of us. Rather it is faith in who we are, each as an individual, integral part of an intelligent Universe. It is a reminder that life is so much more than we experience and observe in our daily routines.

As you ring in 2021,  I invite you to join me in nourishing your seed of faith in each of the 365  days ahead and to remember how important your presence is at this moment on the planet.

Perhaps this prayer, one of my favorites of Gregge Tiffen’s writing, will support you to deepen your faith in you and in understanding just how important you are in the Universal scheme of things. 

Let me never forget how important I am to the Universal Picture. Without me there would be a blank space where there should be color.

 Let me understand that the challenges of life are just that and not battles. I am not out there to win or to loose, only to develop my skills as an on-going student in an omnipotent school.

Let me understand that the difference between people is one of the wondrous realities of an infinite Universe. Giving those differences space to be is far more important than comparing them to my set of beliefs.

Let me be proud of what I do. To whatever my hand touches, let me remind myself that it was my effort that added to the result. Perfection is not my goal. Creativity is.

 Let me remind myself that most of what I take seriously about myself also qualifies for a good laugh. Let me remember to be kind to myself. Loving companions are one of life’s treats, but they are not responsible for my care. Self-kindness can heal almost any hurt.

 Let me take responsibility as a gift and not a burden. Within that effort is the grandest sense of accomplishment I could achieve.

 Let me be patient with life. Nature does not produce the flower before the roots have taken hold. If I recognize that the place I am in is the right place at the right time, it will always be the right place at the right time. Gregge Tiffen (The Significance of Beginning, January 2007)

A Colorado Blue Sky Day with Snowy Peaks - How Winter is meant to be!