March 23, 2020
As I sit in prayer this morning, I hold each of you…one by one…in Love and Light, in Radiant Health and Wholeness, and in deep Gratitude for our connection. And so it is!
Now, onto what Spirit is speaking within me today…
I have been presented with an interesting collection of writings to contemplate this morning. Spirit is calling me to offer perspectives, trusting that they are received as loving communications, received by open hearts and minds. I have been open to all that has been sent my way, reading articles and websites and watching You Tube to stay informed and to gain new perspectives myself. I would like to begin by passing along a message that landed in my email yesterday. I am changing a few words to soften the message and bring it into alignment with Spiritual Truth:
BLESSINGS to you all during this compelling time.
The following list, may assist us all in maintaining some much-needed prospective:
2000 – Y2K is going to destroy EVERYTHING.
2001 – Anthrax is going to kill us all.
2002 – West Nile Virus is going to kill us all.
2003 – SARS is going to kill us all.
2005 – Bird Flu is going to kill us all.
2006 – Ecoli is going to kill us all.
2008 – Financial Collapse is going to destroy us all.
2009 – Swine Flu is going to kill us all.
2012 – The Mayan calendar predicts the world is ending.
2013 – North Korea is going to cause WW III.
2014 – Ebola Virus is going to kill us all.
2015 – ISIS is going to kill us all.
2016 – Zika Virus is going to kill us all.
2020 – Corona Virus is going to kill us all.
As I write this, there is no intent to lessen the seriousness of conditions in our world, or to suggest that we ignore them. It is meant only to bring our attention to what is really the most dangerous thing of all…fear. This message is not meant to discourage healthy and practical precautions like physical distancing and frequent hand-washing in times of pandemic. Rather, it is meant to help us remember that living is risky business…that this is not the first challenge we have experienced…that all is still well in the world…and to serve as a bridge to my message for today.
As I look at this list, I cannot help but notice that the common thread here is the fear of death. As a human family, most of us have not come to a place of complete peace with our own human mortality, even as we may believe in Spiritual Immortality. In our Spiritual Studies, we are taught to make friends with death as an important ally for appreciating life. Author and teacher Duane Elgin says this: “I am not referring to a morbid preoccupation with death. Rather, I mean the felt awareness of our finitude as physical beings — an honest recognition of the short time we have to love and to learn on this earth. The knowledge that our bodies will inevitably die burns through our attachments to the dignified madness of our socially constructed existence. Death is a friend that helps us to release our clinging to social position and material possessions as a source of ultimate security and identity. An awareness of death forces us to confront the purpose and meaning of our existence, here and now.”
Could it be that on a Spiritual level, our lack of attention to the true purpose and meaning of our lives, as a human family, and our lack of respect for one another as nations and for our beautiful planet Earth, requires us to experience one wake-up call after another, in order to bring us back to what really matters, and to who and Whose we truly are? It seems that this is within the realm of possibility…
Two of my readings this morning (completely different sources) spoke to having ears to hear and eyes to see. In the Book of Isaiah, chapter 55, verse 3 it says: “Incline your ear, and come to me; hear, that your soul may live; and I will make with you an everlasting covenant, my steadfast, sure love…” This reading speaks to what Rev. Michael Beckwith calls hearing with the ear within the Ear and seeing with the eye within the I/Eye. It calls us to opening our hearts and minds to all that comes into our awareness, to living our lives from a place of deep Connection and Wisdom. It calls us to wake up to the world around us, to that which reaches beyond our immediate daily experience and to become more aware of what is happening in our world, as well as in the unseen realms. It calls us to spend time in the wilderness of our hearts and souls…to watch and listen for the signs that are always available, pointing the way to a new way of being.
In the Book of Matthew it says, “Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. After fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry.” The question asked by my curious mind is, why the wilderness? And how does this apply to my life right now? Each of us has been led to a particular wilderness right now…a land we have never traversed before. And yet, as we saw in the list offered above, we have faced the wilderness experience before…many times. It is interesting that, in a sense, the whole world is engaging in the practice of fasting and feasting during this season of Lent…fasting from our normal levels of busyness and physical connection and feasting on the simple pleasures. We are being given an opportunity to face our demons, our temptations, our fears…to question our ways of living and being…and to rediscover what is Beautiful and True, both within and without.
Throughout this compelling time, may we all be flexible and open, offering one another our patience, compassion and understanding. In Feasting and Fasting 2020, today’s reading invites us to “fast from being rigid”. It makes the point that while the mighty oak is tall and strong, its single tap root and the hardness of its wood make it vulnerable to breaking in a storm. It warns us that “when I stand like an oak, anchored to one idea – my own idea of how things should be – I can set myself up to snap and fall…” What a great reminder to stay fluid, adaptable…to allow the flow of Grace to guide us as we move through the day, and through the changing conditions of our lives.
Ernest Holmes, founder of the Science of Mind and Spirit, reminds us that “We are all immersed in the atmosphere of our own thinking. This decides what shall take place in our lives.” How often we are reminded of this great Spiritual Truth. And so, as we move into our day, may we all know that we are held in the comforting Love of God. May we remember that we are never alone…the Divine is forever and everywhere present. When we remember to turn our attention to God, we become Peaceful…all concern falls away as we feel Its Everlasting Arms enfolding us. May each of us (may I) remember that in Truth, there is only God…within me and all around me…offering Its Strength and Wisdom. As I lean into this deep knowing, all is well. As I remember the Eternal Nature of the Divine and acknowledge my Oneness with It, all is well. May I be reminded of this beautiful Truth… “ brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable–if anything is excellent or praiseworthy–think on these things.” (Philippians 4:8). In this way, I come to know the Beauty and Joy of living fully…and all is well.
May you all be well…stay in touch…know our Unity…and thrive!
And may you know the Absolute Beauty and Wonder of this Grace-filled, once-in-a lifetime day…
