We are by our very nature, sacred beings. It is my sense that we are born to manifest our divine birthright, to be in full essence and to shine in a way that reveals our true nature to others. In this, we inspire others to live out their own authentic soul experience on the planet at this time. Living Sacredness is an art that has been lost in the busy, impersonal culture that we live in. We are moving from here to there at such speeds barely noticing the person across from us at the check out counter, barely noticing the faces of others. Slowing down becomes a part of living in sacredness; the ability to breathe ourselves into a slower pace, a pace of grace and continuity with the heartbeat of the earth. Our earth misses us. She misses the way we used to take the time to look at her so lovingly, really seeing her beauty. She misses the way we used to offer her sweet things to eat, bits and pieces from our own plates. The earth misses her children and she is calling us home again, calling us to remember her.
It was never the intention of the inhabitants of earth to misuse the planet, I do believe that. It’s just that many have gotten caught up in the net of greed and control, swarthy and sticky as it is, offering a form of seduction that is in the shape of ‘easy’ and it has been hard to resist. We can feel better, look better, get better if we just buy something or have more of something else. And yet, is a quiet revolution going on in our hearts and we are waking up, gently waking up to the reality that there is much more to who we are as human beings and spiritual beings.
We live in a time and place when so many things are assumed. For a while, the earth was assumed to be flat. For a while, mercury was ingested because it was assumed to cure various ailments. We assume and then the realizations come: perhaps we werenÃt quite right on that one, or this one. It is the nature of how we learn as human beings and this is perfectly okay. We are learning and we are growing up as we move about this planet, growing through our arrogance, past our pride and then into the deepest, softest part of humility. Humility with her perfectly bare feet and her delicately bowed head, a prayer to those willing to shed their old lives and embrace the idea that there is a powerful shift happening for our species at this time on earth.
What is this Great Unfolding? It is the awareness that we are being led to live in harmony and in balance and to learn to walk in a new way. It is not a return to the old ways but rather an integration of the depth of the old ways, the slower ways that allowed for us to really hear and know wisdom. We are to walk in beauty, honoring the path that has been lined with all of our tears and all of our joy. It is honoring the path of paradox and becoming skilled at holding paradox with firm and steady hands. This path of the Great Unfolding is the path of becoming the true human being. It will always take you home to your heart, to that soft inner place to fall and to rest. It is a path full of richness and warmth, darkness and depth, joyful wonder, sadness and compassion. This is not a path for those lacking courage of heart – it tests us left and right and then left again. It will make us look into the mirror of the deepest self and it will probe into the place that we thought weÃd covered up nicely. It exposes a human being entirely to herself. And why have it any other way? To become so fully stripped away to the core, to tap our deepest authenticity – this is the journey of Living Sacredness. This is the journey of the Great Unfolding experience that is happening here on earth.
There are so many ways to ‘kneel and kiss the ground’ as Rumi, the poet-mystic, wrote so beautifully. In the work that I do as a guide and healer, I often assist others in setting up daily spiritual practice so that they have a reminder of what they are here for before they step out into the busy world. There is meditation, prayer, mantras, rituals and movement. There are so many beautiful ways to connect with the Source of all things. Reminding others that nature is a part of sacred connection is a large part of what I do in my work and in my life. Oftentimes, someone will come to me who does not want a specific mediation or prayer practice. They may not even see themselves as a particularly spiritual person at all and yet they sense something is missing and they might call it spirituality. When we dig in a bit we often find that this person is in love with nature; the colors, textures, scents and sounds. Thus, being in nature becomes the spiritual practice.
In spiritual practice we get to cultivate qualities that remind us of the sacred. We cultivate reverence, which is a deep respect for life in all its forms. We cultivate gratitude, a practice that a UC Davis study has shown to lower cortisol, a stress hormone. We meditate on kindness because something deep in us knows that kindness has invisible power. We hold a place for joy so we do not lose our awe and wonder. Yet, in the end, our twenty minutes a day of practice is just a reminder; life itself is the spiritual practice.
Tonight, as I prepare for my practice of reflection, watching the moon as she moves towards fullness, singing a prayer of gratitude for this exquisite life journey and for those who travel with me, I invite you to do the same; to light a candle, to become still, to wade out into the mystery, trusting that the mystery will reveal herself in time.
