Spring is right around the corner. Spring, the rebirth of nature, the restart of God’s creation, the creation that never stops creating, is the time when we awaken to God’s perfection and realize that the Earth comes alive all around us. As we look around us this early Spring let’s remember that God makes His home within us, not out there in some distant heaven. If we open our hearts, our families, our communities, and our nations to this love that lives with us, that forms the very essence of our being, our life and our times would be greatly improved. Our life would be as simple as the joy of children playing together.
When we are young, our dreams are full of fantasies. Then the wool is pulled over our eyes and the fantasies are gone. We lose the ability to pray for one another in our dreams. We lose the ability to relearn this task. It should not be a task; it should be an effort of love. But we fear this perhaps because it makes us look weak. But it does not; it strengthens us. Together, it builds a foundation of love that no one can beat. For the structure is strong. It allows us to build on it; on a face that our creator can begin to call each of us by name. And remind us that we are valued and cherished. . . not by a country or a territory or an institution, but by a beloved Being, created by a loving God., given to two loving parents and nurtured by them and raised in God’s image. There is a traditional Scottish blessing It calms our souls. And brings us together as children of God:
Deep peace of the running wave to you, Deep peace of the flowing air to you, Deep peace of the quiet earth to you, Deep peace of the shining stars to you, Deep peace of the Son of Peace to you.
I think about these simple words from Psalm 37: “Our steps are made firm by the Lord when he delights in our way; though we stumble, we shall not fall headlong, for the Lord holds us by the hand.“ And I realize how prophetic they really are for our lives. When we take the time to pray for others, our simple prayers unite our shared beliefs with how we live and serve together in the unity of God’s infinite goodness and shining light. When we open ourselves to others and share our weaknesses, admit our pain and suffering to our community, we become joined together in God’s beloved community, and when we turn to God and pray, bringing our pains, bringing our concerns, God sees the strength and love of a strong loving community sharing the concerns and successes of life on earth. This is the life that Jesus taught us to live; live in a community of love, generously sharing both successes and humbly sharing pain and suffering, allowing spiritual growth and eternal love to provide for all. Jesus taught that El Olam, the Eternal God was ever present.
I know him as teacher! He came to me one night; I thought I was dreaming, but perhaps I wasn’t. he came to me in a still small voice; I listened; I listened carefully! He asked what I could do to be closer to God. I could not answer! He asked again, how can you intentionally practice being closer to God. I was confused, so my first response was to say that I suppose that I would have to reset my life and start with a new perspective, perhaps looking around me and recognizing that I am not alone, I am a part of nature, and nature is a part of me. I cannot thrive unless nature thrives. This teacher then reminded me that I was first made to tend His garden. . . and listen for His word.
Come with me; step into my spirit of love and imagination for a minute; come with me across the bridge from false beliefs to the land of love, peace and beauty, where a community of true freedom is daily life. This is the place where I am real because we are real. Our eyes are wide open to the Love of God all around us. God see in all of us, all through us, all above and below us; God protects us, walks before and behind us, keeping us safe wherever we go. God gives us a capacity to love as strong as a piece of bamboo, very strong and more pliant than we could ever imagine. May Love find you and may you be humbled in the presence of finches.
Unfortunately, we are trained to be disconnected people. All of our heroes in life are go-it-alone supermen who conquer all the villains that life throws in front of them, who then hop in their vintage cars and drive off into the sunset. Many of our books and most of our movies have the same theme. We have this theme because in reality our life is a series of burdens and uncertainties that disappoint us in our shallow, uninteresting daily lives. At some point, whatever our employment is, the joy and gloss is torn off to reveal the toil and mundane existence of the boring everyday existence of modern life. In our hearts and minds, we gradually deteriorate to a state of nothingness and joylessness that looks for any excitement it can find. Our physical world cannot give us this excitement forever. The light in our hearts must rise out of this mundane state allowing others to share in the will that God has put in the very core of our being that other people can observe and share, seeing the joyful difference, but realizing the similar internal feelings in their own very beings. When it does, this light from our hearts, that we all share, bears the image of God, raising us out of the mundane existence of human drudgery that no longer needs the artificial movie hero we formerly worshipped. We have overcome the enormous of influential disconnection to the message that Jesus taught so long ago and still teaches today, Love, God’s unending Love is always with us and outlasts all of our troubles, connecting us in infinite Love.
Do you see that person standing in the back of the crowd? She’s the one who is always sitting alone, many times hiding her face, too shy to speak her voice. Those few people who know her say that she has a very gentle heart, a very caring heart. When she speaks, she speaks with authority about the plight of the oppressed; she cautions that God wants us to value and respect people of all traditions and cultures equally. She laughs when she says that we should be a part of humane-ity. We should love one another as Jesus says. Could she be called by God to be our leader with her too-gentle heart? She offers God’s Grace fully and often, could her wholeness suffer the cruelty of our harsh world?
Meditating to Heal 
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