Category Archives: Light and Love

You Are the Candle

I am, Light and Love, Mystery, Nature as Healer, , ,

This morning while already sitting for meditation I realized that I had not lit my candle. Then inside the little voice said, “You are the candle.” 

A candle that can shed light when burning, as it grows smaller each day, until nothing remains. A beautiful and poignant message of what it is to inhabit the human form. 

At this point I have burned through 77 trips around the sun. And still stumble daily in being as useful as a candle. My dear Sufi teacher often repeats that we are designed to be a lamp, a ladder, or a lifeboat for others. Jamal has such a lovely way of making me look inward and outward at the same time. Sweet metaphors for living a good and useful life.

For some time now my primary metaphor has been ‘the bridge’. At key moments I have somehow been available to be a bridge for others. Sometimes for close friends, or family, but most surprisingly in unexpected moments with strangers who just open up a window into their pain, grief, and confusion. Those moments have taught me some key things about what it means to be a bridge.

I am there to help someone cross from one place to the next. I must hold steady for that crossing, and when it is complete I must be content to be left behind.

Being left behind is the hard part for me. To let go. To continue my own crossings. Keep moving. Stay open. Be available to the next moment to be the light in some way for another.

— Helen

 

 

 

The Angel Song

Light and Love,

This song in the Hebrew language invokes the Archangels: Michael, Gabriel, Uriel, and Raphael for protection, guidance, light, and healing. It concludes with an affirmation that Shekinah, the indwelling feminine aspect of the Divine presence, is above as well as within us.

Singing this song has helped me to remember and cherish the beneficent energies that surround us, and that can be invoked to accompany us on the journey we have undertaken.

May you find blessing in this and in your life always.

B’sheim Hashem elohei yisrael, mimini Michael, umismoli Gavriel, umilfanai Uriel, umeachorai Rafael, v’al roshi, v’al roshi shechinat el

A Walk in the Mist and the Mystery

I am, Light and Love, Mystery, The Mind

 

Yesterday (uncharacteristically) we decided to take a hike before breakfast. The ‘uncharacteristic’ part I refer to was ‘before breakfast.’ Up near the Canadian border we often go hiking on a familiar trail with our dog leading the way. Rama is an excellent trail dog, unless other dogs or people are around. Then he is a run-away, nut job, ever up for a romp with others, a friendly chat, or simply to follow anyone while leaving the ones who feed him behind. 

The day was set to be very hot, so getting out ahead of the heat was what drove us up the hill before taking in sustenance. And being out so early meant we also succeeded in avoiding people and doggies, a complete win.

While hiking I noticed how often my mind, just like my dog, runs off with me. Then in a moment my attention is captured by the way the morning light is touching and illuminating the broken trunk of a tree that has upended itself into the river below. The beauty of it touches me wordlessly. I resolve to be still, a wordless observer of the woods, but before long I am planning a project like this one. I will write about “Forest Bathing”, and hold forth with data about how the aromas given off by trees are as healthy for us as the oxygen they produce in such abundance. Ah, the mind – so quick. 

At the next lookout spot over our beloved river we note to one another the milky-white color of the water, and tussle with each other about the look and definition of run-off, and snow-melt. The sandy beach below has become more rocky than last we saw it, my hand-carved wooden offerings are still in place, someone has chain-sawed off a small piece of a downed tree. 

In this way my mind creates a world, populated by ideas, beliefs, musings, projects, and I become identified with it. ‘I am’ becomes, I am the hiker, the dog-lover, the carver, the notice-er, the river viewer, the one who comes and goes.

All the while a stillness is present and in brief glimpses I apprehend it, and even fall under its sway now and then. I am caught in stillness, even as my ears hear the river, caught in illumination even as the morning light touches the mossy tree ahead, held in the mystery even while swimming in the mist of the mind.

Does Your Twinkle Have a Shelf Life?

Light and Love, , , , ,

Near the solstice this year I attended a Light Party, an annual event hosted by friends in which each participant lights a candle, says their name, and utters a word or two of blessing for the new year ahead. Some words are requests for guidance, deep personal blessing, or prayers for the earth and her creatures. The group repeats the person’s name, and their words, followed by silence. Gradually the darkened room fills with light.

This light, both outer and inner, takes hold of our thoughts, uplifts our hearts, touches us tenderly, and ignites our desire to do the same for others.

At the end of the party one of our hosts began to hand out Hostess Twinkies® to her guests. All around I heard comments, “Oh, I couldn’t.”, “Hmm, no thank you. I am gluten intolerant.” and so on. But our host was not demanding we eat another thing, she began to tell us about remembering to ‘twinkle’, and that this particular product has a prodigious shelf-life. She was offering us an opportunity to remember our words of faith, love, and charity, to bring new light into the world. And to keep the light of our best selves glowing.

My package sits before me each day reminding me to shine, to sparkle, to keep going even when it seems too dark, too hard, too anything. Who knew that a Twinkie® could do such a thing?