Tag Archives: focus

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

 

 

 

Walk with a Friend

Sensitivity, , , , , ,

This is the friend I most often walk with. (Yes, I know that should read “with whom I most often walk”) My hair is a lot longer now. His is about the same. Today I noticed something about myself and the walking routine. When I’m with him I focus on where he’s headed, how hard he’s pulling, and if I’m about to be pulled over on my face. (It’s a good test of bone density, but I don’t like to take it too often.)

After our walk today I decided to go out again on my own to pick a handful of blackberries I had spotted the day before. I didn’t want him along, as berry vines have a way of having their way with anyone who ventures in. But before I even got to the patch, while climbing the hill (well not really a hill, just an incline at most) my focus was all on me. Oh my knee, oh my hip, oh my back.

Without my pal I was all about me. Woe.

Later a friend called and wanted a bit of healing energy sent her way. The call to action opened a inner door for me that said, “Yes! I can do that, I’m so glad you asked.” We laughed about how Looney Tunes the world seems right now. And it was good to laugh. The connection itself was healing for me, and lifted us both up.

We need these connections. Even long distance, even socially distanced we can offer a smile as we pass each other on the path, a word, a song, a little offering of ourselves to another. We’ve learned that even with a mask it’s possible to ‘read’ a smile in the eyes of that person coming along the way. And those eyes, how beautiful they are. My knee feels better.

— Helen