We walk with fear: We believe; not enough. We feel; too much. We worry; how will we? We cry; when will it? We dread; who will it be? We tremble; what will happen?
We walk with love: Abundance appears. Joy fills our being. Trust is our path. Silence is our friend. Beauty abounds. Connection rises in being. Choice is our freedom.
“The enemy is fear. We think it is hate; but it is fear.”
— Mahatma Gandhi
“If you knew the secret of life, you too would choose no other companion but love.”
— Rumi
“May your choices reflect your hopes, not your fears.”
Light entered my world today, not from the east, solely from the north. A swath of blue and white within a sky covered with dark clouds. Instead of the window I look out to see the expected, I choose an alternate window to see the unexpected. The same light seen through a different world view.
“It is a narrow mind which cannot look at a subject from various points of view.”
—George Eliot
“If the doors of perception were cleansed, everything would appear to man [and woman] as it is—infinite.”
—William Blake
“In this treacherous world, nothing is the truth or a lie. Everything depends on the color of the crystal through which one sees it.”
In a night vision, the meandering timeline of my life floats before me, like the river that flows past my house, winding its way south, touching here and there, while always moving in the direction of intent.
Challenges and joys that went before are seen, as I float on to this moment. I see my learning and my fears, when, as a child, I do not understand. I see confusion, tears, aloneness, transitions,
moving in time, trying to find my way from there to here, with deaths, friends, shame, insecurities, curiosity. I feel sadness and joy. I am a child, then a teen in my self-centered world, lacking awareness
and understanding. I see my marriage, my babies, the delight, the loss, their gifts to me. I see me, catapulted to awaken to my life, to shed old skin, as I long to create, find purpose in being, alter perceptions.
I enter deconstruction—spiritual crisis— and am stripped to bones. In newness, I am embraced. Through friendship, divine manifestation, love, compassion, forgiveness, and healing, I find I am enough. All the iterations of me. All one. All love.
Joys. Challenges. Acceptance. Strength. Understanding. In allowing and accepting, the way opens. Amma, holy one, names me—Sadhana, spiritual practice. This name guides me, as I seek to know the meaning. To accept my path. Learn to allow,
to create, to accept light, to accept love. I enter my day with the message: open arms, open heart, receive, give, be. Be gentle. Be patient. Be love.
“Anything can become a spiritual practice once you are willing to approach it that way—once you let it bring you to your knees and show you what is real, including who you really are, who other people are, and how near God can be when you have lost your way.”
Barbara Brown Taylor, An Altar in the World: A Geography of Faith
“The goal of spiritual practice is full recovery, and the only thing you need to recover from is a fractured sense of self.”
Marianne Williamson
“Spiritual practice should not be confused with grim duty. It is the laughter of the Dalai Lama and the wonder born with every child.”
So many seasons of spring have I walked this earth: to see the sun rise in its rose and blue striations; to hear the morning chatter as chickadee and finch wake; to witness green leaves rise from soil with the promise of rose tulip, purple iris, or yellow crocus. Like an infant who wakes to see Mother’s face anew in this morning, I feel joy in anticipation, expectance of renewal, amazement in life’s becoming.
“What a strange thing! to be alive beneath cherry blossoms.”
Kobayashi Issa, Poems
“Is the spring coming?” he said. “What is it like?”… “It is the sun shining on the rain and the rain falling on the sunshine…”
Frances Hodgson Burnett
“It is spring again. The earth is like a child that knows poems by heart.”
El Camino IV, The Flow of Compassion by Janis Dehler
In the fall of 2017, I hiked the Camino de Santiago in northern Spain. When I returned, I created a series of paintings depicting my emotional, physical, and spiritual experience. Recently, a print of El Camino IV, The Flow of Compassion was purchased. I did not share my experience and the meaning of the work with the buyer but allowed her to see what was there for her. This week the collector sent me her perspective on viewing this art as a review to post on my website. As we enter the Christian Holy Week, I offer you her words, her intimate experience of self-awareness. I feel deep gratitude in being able to touch the life of another embodied spirit.
I sense the flow of something powerful within me and through me as I take in the vibrant colors, flowing and attuning to my inner being, awakening a deep knowing of the nurturing of my broken heart by compassionate people in my spiritual community. As I look more intently at this amazing work of art, I see a cross.
My thoughts go to Jesus as he suffered intense beatings after his arrest; after he heard the declaration, ‘Crucify Him’! and while he hung on a cross, slowly dying.
I remember reading his response ~ Forgive them, for they know not what they do! And I feel a powerful movement through me and in my heart ~ the flow of compassion.
I am in awe of his response. Instead of blaming the darkness, Jesus brought in the light of forgiveness, through compassion.
Now my thoughts go to myself ~ I have been blessed by the flow of compassion toward me; I have allowed the power of compassion to flow through me to others, and finally, I have forgiven the one who broke my heart.
Eileen
“All I ever wanted was to reach out and touch another human being not just with my hands but with my heart.”
Tahereh Mafi, Shatter Me
“Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a harder battle.”
Sandhill crane seeks rest before the flight north to home. I journey with birds.
(photo by Leo Dehler)
“Sometimes the people around you won’t understand your journey. They don’t need to – it’s not for them.”
Joubert Botha
“It’s a funny thing coming home. Nothing changes, everything looks the same, feels the same, even smells the same. You realize what’s changed, is you.”
Eric Roth
“You will never completely be at home again because part of your heart will always be elsewhere. That is the price you pay for the richness of loving and knowing people in more than one place.”
There was a time, I looked back, like an explorer who seeks the river source; I sought to know the origin of my pain, my fear, my suffering.
There was a time, I looked forward, like a seer who tells the future; I sought to know where I was going, the plan, the purpose of this being.
There is this time, I look out, just as it is; I seek to live each moment as it presents—the pain, the joy, the will to be, the heart open, as it appears.
“Tomorrow is tomorrow. Future cares have future cures, And we must mind today.”
Sophocles, Antigone
“Every instant of our lives is essentially irreplaceable: you must know this in order to concentrate on life.”
Andre´Gide
“In a world myriad as ours, the gaze is a singular act: to look at something is to fill your whole life with it, if only briefly.”
Seagulls stand at water’s edge, in stillness, they look out to the gulf, webbed feet tickled by gentle waves— born from tranquil water. Unexpected peace after a week of wild roar.
Within the calm, sanderlings also cease their scurry, gather at water’s edge and appear to cluster in quiet conversation, then, rest in contemplation.
Movement slows, lovers walk hand in hand, while nature ceases her uproar, inviting us to stop and observe, the sacredness, which is now.
“When you plunge your hand into it, all you feel is a caress. Water is not a solid wall; it will not stop you. But water always goes where it wants to go, and nothing in the end can stand against it. Water is patient.”
Margaret Attwood, The Panelopiad
“Rest is not idleness, and to lie sometimes on the grass under trees on a summer’s day, listening to the murmur of the water, or watching the clouds float across the sky, is by no means a waste of time.”
John Lubbock, The Use of Life
“They both listened silently to the water, which to them was not just water, but the voice of life, the voice of Being, the voice of perpetual Becoming.”
We walk the beach while waves crash and deposit Jellyfish on the shore. We stop, look, take photos, and admire the intricate beauty of this stinging swimmer. A fellow walker scoops with a net and flings the water filled beauties back to the ocean. I ponder in admiration for her thoughtfulness, creativity, and dedication, as she walks miles to extend herself to her ocean community: Jellyfish and barefoot children. I marvel at this world that offers itself to us, to see and to respond in the many ways there are of being of service.
“The end of all knowledge should be service to others.”
Cesar Chavez
“Great acts are made of small deeds.”
Lao Tzu
“Memories of our lives, of our works and our deeds will continue in others.”
