Bars on Our Windows, Locks on Our Doors

 “I discovered windows one afternoon and after that, nothing was ever the same.” 

― Anne Spollen, The Shape of Water 

“Your gift will unlock doors that you prayed for God to open.” 

― Yvonne Pierre, The Day My Soul Cried: A Memoir

Today after another emotional week for me spent evaluating my thoughts and feelings, I sat down and looked through an old folder of correspondence from 1996-1997 to prepare to write today’s blog entry.  As I looked at my words, I was amazed at how my dreams and thoughts have expanded years later, but still are rooted in fundamental truths.  I had been thinking earlier today about how our minds can be prisons limiting our thoughts and actions, as well the physical prisons of our environments.  I saw in my folder I wrote a note in 1997 to myself concluding with the following, “Roberta, my neighbor, commented that people who have lived in East St. Louis and move to small towns, put bars on their windows.  This is evidence of the evil that grows in our environment.  We must no longer think of safety in terms of locks, but rather the absence of locks.”   

When I began my journey of writing in my blog SacredSouls almost seven years ago in February of 2014, my first entry was titled the Road Not Taken and ended with the following.  “God has provided me many blessings, but I am in a fork in my life where the unpaved and paved paths meet.   The beauty of the unpaved path calls to my heart and I can no longer deny it.  This is the beginning of my journey.  I trust in God that the unpaved path is my destiny.”  Similar to my words in 1997, my thoughts in 2014 were just beginning an exploration of my experiences over the last thirty years.

My blog has been a tool for processing my thoughts and emotions based on my past and current experiences, so that I could understand my life and God’s role in it and to provide healing.  And I thought perhaps by publishing my thoughts in a blog, I could help others along their life journey. In writing, I let my mind wander, writing about whatever came to me.  Some entries focused on a very personal experience and emotion from the past or present.  And some were of how I saw God in my life and in creation.  And then I noticed that it was building to an image of God and who I am as a child of God.  And underlying it all, were symbols of birds flying between earth and heaven, unlocked from their cages.  To understand that symbolism of that image, I need to explain how I differ from many other people, but maybe others can learn from my thoughts and experiences, although they have different gifts.

As an INFJ mystic, (less than 1 percent of the population is classified in this category within the Myers-Briggs), I process the world very differently.  Susan Storm in a Close Look of the Mystic writes that brain scans by the neurologist Dario Nardi show a very unique brain activity for the INFJ.  She writes “INFJs enter a “zen-like” brain state when they are tasked to envision the future or solve a complex problem. Nardi conducted EEG brain-wave tests that showed that INFJs, when presented with a novel or complex problem, would harness all neocortex regions in order to “realize” an answer.”  As an INFJ, I would say based on my experience with this, I am not only realizing an answer from within, but also from a field of consciousness in which I am part.  I have experienced states of mind that while I am in it, I draw thoughts from the universal with can have positive and negative energy or thoughts.  While I am immersed in it, I know when I come out of that state, I will not remember individual thoughts, but will be left with an impression which will guide me in the future.  And in my everyday normal experience, I usually do not remember many details unless I write them down immediately. But if I experience an event that triggers emotions from a past trauma, the details can become very vivid.  

In addition, due to trauma in my twenties and thirties, my mind learned to escape the physical, emotional and mental boxes placed around me to abuse me.  I escaped with what I refer to as breakthroughs which made me aware of other “realities” within a field of consciousness which others were not conscious of as well as underlying truths.   Most psychiatrists classify my experiences that I have described as pathological, isolated to my brain requiring antipsychotic drugs.   A few years ago, I read an academic article on transpersonal psychology titled Psychosis or Spiritual Emergence ago which confirmed that my experiences should be viewed as part of a larger field of consciousness and treated in a supportive, loving environment.  For years, I had resisted psychiatrists classifying my mental states within DSM models instead reframing my mind as a gift that needs to be managed.  A lesson I actually learned from a communication professor who had a license plate “reframe it.”  By reframing my mental experiences, I learned to step outside of them analyzing them in a positive light which enabled me to manage my mind.  My counselor Pat years ago told me I could control my mind, but she also understood it would be a learning process over time.  I knew this would involve practice and therefore, risk.  This ran counter to the messaging by the psychiatrists that I could never control it because it is an involuntary cyclical chemical reaction.  But I realized this “chemical” reaction occurred under stress often connected to a metaphysical event.  I found psychiatrists dismissed this as nonsense.  But now I know as an INFJ, I am skilled in recognizing patterns, especially those in human thoughts and emotions.  And it has been said we see “the pattern of the pattern” within our own minds and can project how those patterns can play out in others.  I also see my insights as sometimes revealed by God through the field of consciousness which is not bound by what we know as sequential or Kronos time.    

The reason I am sharing this is to explain, my mind has experience working outside the normal mental boxes most of us operate in that we do not even realize we are in.  And as a consequence, I can see how paradigms and beliefs within our individual and collective psyche affect our behaviors, and why I challenge how other people think.  I was listening to a podcast with Dr. Illia Delio who is a nun with PhDs in theology and in science this week, and she talked about the fact that the reality is we operate in a quantum world there is no normal, only chaos.  And she said our quest to get back to normal will be our undoing.  This statement is a paradigm shift and the implications are tremendous.  I cannot even begin to contemplate at her intellectual level the ramifications.  But I know that to change and adapt, we must first recognize this reality to change our thought processes and resulting actions. 

Also, because I am an INFJ primarily driven by introverted intuition or analysis of perspectives, and because of my ability to transcend consciousness, I can experience multiple perspectives without being completely married to one.  Allowing me to go to the most abstract level  to summarize detailed thoughts.  That is why I say God is love.  God is the whole.  God is eternal.  Dr. Delio would state it in even higher terms.  She states God is a mystery.  The rest is our imagination and that is very hard for most people to accept.  But if you can accept that our thoughts or imagination is the basis for what we create, together we can become anything we imagine if we love, and provide hope and faith.  That is mind-blowing.

Which circles back to what I originally wrote in 1997 about people leaving a violent city for a safe town, still feel the need to put bars on the windows to protect themselves. Fear and trauma have lasting impact on our ability to trust others and imagine positive outcomes.   Because I have been told I am psychotic and because I have been abused for my thoughts almost physically losing my life, sharing my thoughts is not easy because rejection opens up trauma feelings that I cannot be loved or accepted for who I am.  I relived this trauma again this week after sharing one of my blog posts with a group writing memoirs I had trusted.  My blog entry elicited anger from the leader whose resentment had been building because she felt I was resisting and challenging her authority, expertise, and structure as well as purpose for writing a memoir which I found limiting and not applicable to me.  And although it was made clear I was not welcome in that group, like my other experiences, it will only strengthen my resolve to break open mental, physical and emotional prisons - by taking each bar off window by window, and lock by lock from each door holding us in.   Even if it takes an eternity.

 

Thoughts on a Movement of God

May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.  Romans 15:13

It has been another tumultuous week with Trump refusing to acknowledge the election results and the virus raging through the country. But there was respite with the decisive results of the election, a vaccine closer to distribution, and positive news from the Supreme Court hearings on the Affordable Care Act.  And I realized that God’s grace and timing has been at work through all of it.  This has not been solely a human battle, but one fought on a spiritual level where the enemy seeks to kill, steal and destroy our joy by dominating our consciousness with fear and rage.  But with love, faith, hope, joy and hard work we will prevail. And although I know that God gifts and directs our path individually, today I pictured a flock of birds rising together in formation in the sky.  I thought about what my priorities need to be in this ongoing spiritual battle, and I considered the role of my church.   Although individual churches and denominations have their strengths within their congregations, I thought the following elements for a movement based on God should be in place to thrive and grow.

A universal love for God, each other and creation supported by an uplifting worship service that renews and strengthens the spirit within us so that we can spread the love and joy of God to others.  A study of the Bible which deepens our understanding of God and directs our spiritual journey as a disciple of Jesus. An understanding that we are not destined to be sinful, but need to be self-aware and reflective knowing that we are accepted and loved as a child of God. A ministry that recognizes that as humans we can be broken and hurt both emotionally and physically by others, and we need healing through the presence of prayer and the witness by others of God’s love.   A collective movement that addresses poverty, discrimination, and environmental issues not isolated to a single church or denomination but is in solidarity with all who fight for social justice.  And a universal prayer focus that sustains both individuals and the church.

 

 

 

The Freedom of the Holy Spirit

“It's not about finding ways to avoid God's judgment and feeling like a failure if you don't do everything perfectly. It's about fully experiencing God's love and letting it perfect you. It's not about being somebody you are not. It's about becoming who you really are.” 

― Stormie Omartian, The Power of a Praying Woman

I am an INFJ on the Myers-Briggs personality profile, referred to as the mystic. I am a person who sifts through perspectives evaluating my emotions and actions, as well as understanding the possible perspectives and motives of others.  I am always seeking a deeper truth, but it can be exhausting. Another INFJ I know refers to it as the monkey brain – constantly swinging from one idea and perspective to another with a focus on understanding the whole.  In addition. I was raised by a mother who lived in the 1950s generation that judged women on their social manners and appearance, and the perfection of their household and children.  I learned as a child the importance of not making a mistake.   During my childhood we did not attend church consistently and I never learned verses from the Bible.  At the age of ten I went through confirmation, rote memorizing creeds without understanding.  And I practiced rituals, including taking communion weekly confessing our sins before God.  This experience left me spiritually empty and for years I never felt the need for God until I was thirty when I experienced a crisis.  What did stay with me from my childhood was the beautiful Christmas celebrations at home when I was very young.  My parents would attend Christmas midnight mass and ring the sleigh bells and play music upon arriving home.  As a consequence, I moved through my life without a faith in God, but loving the joy of Christmas.  

We often do not recognize the impact of the societal norms of our generation until later in life, and how it affects our image of God as either punitive or loving.    In the last thirty years in my journey to know God, my perspective has changed, and I have come to believe that our focus must be on a loving and universal God or Christ, as well as a follower of Jesus of Nazareth.  I believe as the Franciscans Richard Rohr and Ilia Delio do, that the concept of original sin “first put forward by Augustine in the fifth century but never mentioned in the Bible is damaging.” (The Universal Christ, p. 61).  Richard Rohr points out that the creation story within Genesis is about beauty, and Genesis 1:31 says, “And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good.”  He also discusses the harm of theology that explains the crucifixion was required to pay a price for our sins before a perfect God. This creates an image of a judgmental God needing atonement, instead of a loving and forgiving God who does not require perfection. 

 

It is evident as human beings we have done a lot of damage to each other, and as a consequence that pain reverberates through generations.  But I would ask is it better to raise a child believing they are destined to be sinful needing atonement before God?  Or to raise a loving human who will sometimes make mistakes that can have consequences, but can be forgiven and who is accepted as they are by God?   Is it healthier to provide an environment where a child is loved, and taught how to understand their own emotions while reflecting on how their actions can affect themselves and others?  Can a child feel loved, if they don’t feel accepted without perfection?  We live in a society of human judgment.  Is it also necessary to be judged by a punitive God?  

 

I also know that when I was damaged, the witness of the love of God and acceptance by others was the healing force in my life and I am forever grateful.  I have also learned in the process of my healing not to dwell on guilt of my own past actions that had consequences and sometimes hurt others, but to do better.  This is to know the forgiveness of God. My emotions, actions and reflections will never be perfect, but God does not require perfection and what is in my heart cannot be hidden.  I know God’s grace and favors are constantly at work in my life.  And I smile now when he sends gentle reminders through others to do better. I know God loves and accepts me as I am and does not require atonement.  My focus is to spread the joy and healing power of God’s love to others.  This is to walk in the freedom and power of the Holy Spirit.

 

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

Open Our Eyes and See

“And whem Jesus departed thence, two blind men followed him, crying, and saying, Thou Son of David, have mercy on us.  And when he was come into the house, the blind men came to him: and Jesus saith unto them, Believe ye that I am able to do this? They said unto him, Yea, Lord.  Then touched he their eyes, saying, According to your faith be it unto you.  And their eyes were opened; and Jesus straitly charged them, saying, See that no man know it.”  Matthew 9:27-30 KJV

 

Recently I decided I needed to read through the New Testament on my own with fresh eyes starting with the Gospel of Matthew.  I had been part of Bible study led by our interim priest who is well versed in biblical history and the Jewish and Roman culture in which Jesus and his disciples lived.   Our priest led the study by examining the historical context of the verse as well as relating it to other parts of the Bible.  This included reflecting the deep symbolism and practices of the Jewish faith and how it related to the growing revelation to humans of God throughout the Bible.  I knew I could never absorb the lifetime learning and study of the Bible our priest possesses, and I appreciated his intellect and knowledge.  I realize that studying historical theological interpretations can enlighten and open my mind to other perspectives.  

 

But the reason I decided to read the Bible with fresh eyes was because my sense of the spiritual was lost in the intellectual study which emphasized correct cultural and historical interpretation as promulgated by theologians in the past. Symbolism is powerful because of the many layers of meaning and perspectives within it that comprise the greater whole and interpretations in the past do not always perceive other meanings revealed with time.

 

As I have written in other posts, we are both spirit and human, energy and matter.  And for me the question is from which perspective do we start in understanding our relationship to God?  Spirit or human?  Spirituality is the mystery of consciousness or intangible that cannot be grasped by understanding human biology and culture.  And as a modern society our knowledge of the nature of creation including physics and our humanity has changed dramatically. It is becoming apparent to me that looking at our relationship with God from a historical or literal perspective defined by words within the Bible and sanctioned theology or interpretations has its limits.

 

It is appropriate that the last book in the Bible is titled Revelation.   As I have said in past posts, revelation is not solely symbolizing a final judgment or reveal.  Revelation is an ongoing process throughout the Bible and because God is in all things within his creation, God also reveals himself in our ongoing exploration of science and knowledge around us and within us. But true understanding of our spiritual nature comes from intuitive knowing, which is our spiritual connection to God, that cannot be defined with knowledge.   But we can consider how science is shedding new light on Jesus’ ministry and the Bible’s message about God.  And our focus on sanctioned historical interpretation can prevent us from considering that Jesus was challenging the fundamental paradigms by which we think and our perception of reality which holds us back from knowing God.  

 

In the Garden of Eden, humans are separated from God because the eternal spiritual link to God is severed, and we focused on our human mortality (we saw we were naked and vulnerable).  This alienation from God cloaked our eternal nature and has influenced our human behavior ever since our separation from God or the whole.  Jesus ministry included a reconciliation of us to God and our eternal nature, but we haven’t absorbed that lesson.  We still believe in original sin and have not embraced the freedom of spirit.   And science tells us that our brain constructs much of our reality.  And Einstein told us “the reality we focus on is the reality we create.  This is not philosophy, it is physics.”  Deep within our collective psyche lie sets of beliefs about our reality and who we are that we need to change to see the world as it truly is – the Kingdom of God.  

 

Jesus told us as in John 18:36 “My Kingdom is not of this world.”  In the time of Jesus, no one knew about quantum mechanics or dimensions and how they may affect us.  We understand gravity and other macro physics because we can physically observe their effects. But the effect of a quantum universe which is unseen requires imagination.  But if we look at Jesus’s words, he is challenging us to question the world we perceive or see right now.  He is asking us to use our imagination and change our beliefs.   Why did Jesus and his disciples have the power to perform miracles?  Because their minds were not bound the physical limitations perceived by others.  This is emphasized in the Christian belief in the power of prayer.  “Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them.  Mark 11:24. 

 

Quantum mechanics teaches us that by merely observing or thinking about a particle, a particle’s trajectory changes without a related physical cause.  The power of prayer as well as the ability to anticipate an event before it happens, has been confirmed in well controlled psi experiments.  Dr. Dean Radin in his book Entangled Minds postulates our consciousness does not exist solely in our brains but is part of a quantum universe.  And transpersonal psychology which challenged the medical model of our consciousness being relegated to our brain, states that the consciousness or spirit is inherent in the universe.  Our brains are the lens by which we experience and interact with consciousness as biological beings.  When we die, our brain ceases to be that lens as a human, but our consciousness is still present.  These ideas and theories only increase our wonder at the unknown, unseen and the possible combined with the theory that our thoughts are energy, that with faith, can bring about change.  “While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal. “2 Corinthians 4:18. “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.”  Hebrews 11:1

 

Einstein said imagination is more powerful than knowledge.  In Matthew 18:3 KJV, Jesus says “Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven.”  The Gospels are full of symbolism, parables and metaphors because Jesus was referring to a deeper meaning, not a literal meaning and those meanings change with time or perspective.  We know children are different from adults because of the power of their imagination and unquestioning belief of what they are told.  Traditional teaching is that we enter the Kingdom of Heaven after death, but the Kingdom of God is already here, and Jesus asks us to see it.  ^“Neither shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there! for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you.  Luke 17:21 KJV. The beauty of this passage is that Jesus is referring to both our ability to love God and each other with our spirit within, resulting in the power to transform the Earth and our reality with our thoughts and our love.   

 

As a human, I have a deep appreciation for the study of the Bible based on historical and Biblical tradition, but as a spirit I know that there is so much more.  It is not about choosing to be human or spirit, it is about being both.  I believe that mainstream churches like mine are losing relevancy with a younger generation who is more universal in thought. It is because the church is married to a historical and Biblical tradition that has lost its relevancy  because it has not expanded with our human knowledge.  Younger people reject dogma, morality and judgment as the face of religion. They are motivated by acceptance, service, and the love of others.   ^“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.”  Galatians 5:22-23.  

 

Inclusion into the Kingdom of God is not whether you declare Jesus your Lord and Savior, have been baptized, and take communion.  But rather whether you perceive and live within the love of God and serve others as Jesus did and recognize that only God can truly see in our souls and judge us.    Rituals such as baptism, prayer and communion can renew our focus on God, but also become mechanical or empty when practiced as dogma.  We are all children of God and all of our Earth is sacred and worthy of veneration, not just the congregations and churches we worship in.   The Garden of Eden is our entire Earth home, but because we have separated our spirituality and eternal nature from our humanity, we are destroying the Earth and ourselves.    

 

As a church we need to look at our teachings and traditions with a fresh perspective.  There is wisdom and spirituality within our church which has aged, but perhaps we need to balance the intellectual with the spirit.    I personally believe that there is a spiritual awakening which can only be completed by God, but I am not waiting for Jesus to come back to judge the living and the dead.  My focus is the spirit within us and practicing a universal love and eternal link to God that is available to all of us.  Christianity in its present form did not exist when Jesus was human which  has evolved to become exclusionary and hierarchical instead of universal.  

 

God is love. God is the whole.  God is eternal.  

 

Perspectives

 “The right perspective makes the impossible possible.” Anonymous

"And Jesus looking upon them saith, With men it is impossible, but not with God: for with God all things are possible." ... "For with God nothing shall be impossible." Luke 1:37, KJV. "And he said, The things which are impossible with men are possible with God."

During my quiet time, early in the morning, I think about the breathtaking beauty of the Earth, and I am overcome with the sense of heaven within and around me.  In those moments, I imagine my neighborhood filled with tree lined streets, neighbors looking out for one another, laughing together, having block parties, gardening in their yards with a sense of time standing still.  I also imagine living in eternity on a farm in a beautiful valley filled with vineyards, crops, and old-fashioned gardens with children running through the lime and emerald green grass. A farmhouse lost in time with a fireplace, warm and inviting and  trees changing in the autumn into burnt and bright oranges with variations of reds.  The farm is filled with animals including cats and dogs running freely.  All my loved ones gathered in dinner laughing and talking while enjoying our favorite recipes.

Our only limits are those of imagination.  If we can conceive it, we can create it.  There is so much diversity within our imaginations reflecting the beauty of God or the whole.  It is not about the world I imagine, but what our collective imaginations and spirits can conceive with love.  As I think about the people in my life, I know there are many facets within them, but in moments of God I can see their whole spirit and humanity.  But in this reality in times of anger and despair, we limit each other and ourselves, by not dreaming and seeing the possible, not seeing the whole instead reducing each other to a single characterization or perspective.  The gift of spirituality is the ability to see the whole, a unification of perspectives in order to focus on the beauty within our humanity.  To see what is possible.

 The power of Jesus’ ministry is that he walked in spirit, knowing he was not bound by this reality and he could perform incredible miracles.  His core message is that the eternal Kingdom of God is within us and around us and that with God nothing shall be impossible.    God is love.  God is the whole.  God is eternal.

Believe.

John 3:15-17 KJV

 "That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life.  For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.  For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved."

The Battle for the Soul of Our Nation

"He that dwellers in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the Lord, He is my refuge and my fortress: my God in him will I trust."  Proverbs 91 KJV

This morning I awoke from a long, deep sleep feeling relaxed and rested after a tumultuous week with several late nights.  It was a chilly morning with a temperature of 45 and I turned on my gas fireplace then sat in my robe and began to think about this last week.   I journaled my thankfulness for all the people I felt blessed to have in my life, as well as those who have been fighting so hard with love and determination for the soul of our country.  I decided to get dressed and drive to Sandy’s Back Porch to get Fall decorations, drop of my ballot in the county box, and pick up birdseed for my front feeder.  As I got ready to depart, I connected my iPhone into Apple play in my car and selected my Christmas playlist.  

My childhood is filled with memories of music, especially the music of my parents who were part of the Greatest Generation.  My Christmas playlist includes music from the Robert Shaw Orchestra, Fred Waring and the Pennsylvanians, Dean Martin, Nat King Cole, and other greats from the 1950s, as well as contemporaries such as Michael Bublé.  As I began to drive, I turned up the volume and listened filled with joy.  Music from the 1950s has a special quality to it, a sense of peace, joy, optimism, and love.  It reminded me that after a horrendous time in our country with the Depression and World War II, there was a spiritual awakening and a thankfulness that better times were present.  

I am aware of the realities and history of the 1950s, including McCarthyism, nuclear weapons and the beginning of the civil rights fight that would lead to activism of the Supreme Court and passage of Civil Rights legislation in the 1960s.  But progress as humans has always been an ongoing spiritual fight, and my parents’ music reflected the goodness and triumph of love after a horrifying period in our world history.

When I got to Sandy’s Back Porch, with the help of the staff, I selected corn stalks with ribbons, three pumpkins (two orange and one white), with a beautiful deep orange chrysanthemum.  We somehow fit the long stalks into my car.  I set off to submit my ballot and pick up bird seed.  At the Wildlife shop, the owner and I talked about her gay sons and the need for all people to feel loved and accepted for who they are and whom they love.  After getting into my car and connecting the music, I turned onto Route 159 with a Trump parade passing by with waving American, Trump 2020, and Make America Great Again flags attached to their pickups while they honked their horns.  A surreal contrast to the beautiful Christmas music coming from my stereo speakers, and I was reminded again that we are in a battle for the soul of our nation.  

As I have written in past posts, our thoughts and feelings as well as our spoken words and our actions affect the greater consciousness in creation.   The essence of the battle is that those who seek to instill and spread hate and fear, target those who generate and move love forward in the Universe.  And their weapons include chaos, division, fear and hatred of “the other.”  But as I have written before, God and love will prevail in the end even as some sacrifice their human lives in the fight, because love is the most powerful force in creation.

It was not a coincidence that the New York Times published articles on Trump’s tax returns Sunday night. And that Trump self-destructed hideously in the debate Tuesday and the negligence and his callous attitude about the coronavirus effect on everyday Americans had hit home with the Republican Party.  We have not seen the final impact, but I admired the decision of the Biden campaign to pull negative campaign ads, although the Trump campaign did not.  Biden knows, as my parents learned in their generation, the fight is not over, but we cannot forget goodness and love and aspire to something greater for ourselves and others.  

In the middle of all this week was my 60th birthday and although I felt the presence of God and the love of others, it was an emotional week for me in several personal ways.  I was again reminded, that my introverted intuitive feeling approach to thinking and writing is not shared by others.  I again felt pressure  to conform to an extraverted sensing world or face rejection and punishment, as I have many times before for my thoughts.  My counselor Pat said to me in my thirties, “maybe you are the normal one and everyone else is not.  Maybe you can help others be more like you.”  For me, my life journey is not told by describing what I observe around me or what I do, but to incorporate my life experiences with my journey to know who I am as a spirit connected to a higher power.   And to explain how my growth has occurred within me, so I can help others.  The fact is I have the power to operate in a much higher consciousness and spirit as do others, but the enemy pulls us downward.  We are birds meant to fly between earth and heaven, but the fowler aims to kill and cage those who can fly the highest.  

But as Richard Bach, writer of Jonathan Livingston Seagull said so beautifully in 2006.

“We can lift ourselves out of ignorance, we can find ourselves as creatures of excellence and intelligence and skill. We can be free! We can learn to fly!” 

“There

On a distant shore

By the wings of dreams

Through an open door

You may know him

If you may

Be”

The lyrics from Jonathan Livingston Seagull

 

 

For They Existed

 It has been a dry August and September here in the St. Louis area, the remnants of the hurricanes adding to the humidity but the rain passing to the south and east of us.  As I worked in my yard this evening, I could see the edges of the Hosta and patches in the lawn turning brown, along with the spent limelight hydrangea blossoms.  The yard looks tired and parched, a drastic change from this spring when the entire landscape was a lush emerald green.  We were blessed to have a wet summer up until August, but the last four weeks I have been watering bushes, plants and trees leaving my lawn to go dormant.  

As I worked in my yard, I thought about the stress in our country and the loss of Justice Ginsburg.  A friend had posted on Facebook Maya Angelou’s poem, “When Great Trees Fall” and I thought of the stanza “Great souls die and our reality, bound to them, takes leave of us.  Our souls dependent upon their nurture, now shrink, wizened.”  In a time when truth and integrity seem so lost, the falling of this tree or soul was especially hard, and we felt it collectively because of what the life of Justice Ginsburg represented.  Her life is about the power of an individual to perservere against great odds with integrity and in doing so, change the world.  But she also represented something else so dear exemplified in her and Justice Scalia’s friendship.  Their ability to argue the law in a court where the outcome is not predetermined, but based in the end on the merit of the argument.  Their friendship shows us, that diverse perspectives when respected and balanced, move our society forward.  It represents our ability to see celebrate our differences, to put ourselves in other people’s shoes, while staying tethered to a greater truth – our constitution and rule of law and the importance of rituals.  Something lost in the current battle over stacking the court in order to dictate the outcome before the arguments by the justices even begin.

As I watched the private service of Justice Ginsburg and listened to the Rabbi’s haunting voice singing a chant in Hebrew, I felt the ancient call to God and the need to be enfolded in ritual.  In a time when we are fighting over an underlying narrative for the country, we have become ungrounded from a shared reality and the importance of our rituals, norms and processes.  And this is even harder in a time when nothing is normal in our daily lives due to the coronavirus and constant climate disasters.   

But as I thought further, I realized that in this week as a nation we are seeing more clearly.  Our first priority must be our constitution and our norms which have become distorted. As Vice President Biden said Americans when told the truth, have always risen to the occasion. The birth of our nation was not easy, and neither was the Civil War, Great Depression, World War II, Watergate and other crises, but we are at a precipice of making a great change to more closely realize the dream of those who came before us.  People like us who were imperfect but saw a vision greater than themselves and worked together.  They lived in a time when their mistakes were not amplified millions of times or their words taken out of context in soundbites.  They took their time and chose their words carefully with purpose, reimaging a new narrative for our country building on the vision written in the Declaration of Independence.  

As a county we need a leader who will bring us together imaging our country based on our aspirations, reality and ideals.  We can honor and celebrate the genius and ideas of our founding fathers while recognizing the limitations of their society, and the fact they were imperfect like us.   And we can recognize the contributions of those Americans who have been minimized and subjugated for so long.  Much of what we believe as Americans is based on myth.  But myths and stories are important because they can bind us together in common purpose, but they must be true to those ideals that are good and honorable.  So often, these stories and visions were spoken in great speeches by our presidents and other leaders.  At other times through general impressions left on us in common culture.  But in this critical time, we must not allow lies, false narratives, and conspiracy theories distract us from what is good and true.  Let us follow the example of those like George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, Franklin Roosevelt, Ruth Bader Ginsburg and all those who came before, although flawed, knew what was good and true and aspired to be better.

“Our senses, restored, never


to be the same, whisper to us.


They existed. They existed.


We can be. Be and be


better. For they existed.”  Maya Angelou