Aligning with Grace

There are times when we are ready to turn the page... Or, turn a corner. There are simply times when change is inevitable... There are moments in our lives when we are driven to release all that holds us back. it is truly a time when we feel compelled to toss out the old, to make space for the new. There are times when a new life beckons. We hear it whispering in our ear. At first quietly, and then more loudly... This is one of those moments... I have literally finished with a major purge in my home, and I feel a lightness of being and a surge of creativity that has eluded me for a very long time. It is almost hard to keep up with myself and the thoughts that are running through my mind - literally a mile a minute! And so I have also decided to make more healthy choices in my life as well - in terms of what I eat and drink, and this weekend held a "Farewell Party" for a number of items! I arose into a new dawn. I went for a walk, meditated this morning, and th...

This morning on my walk, I thought about a conversation I had with a dear friend yesterday who had just had surgery. My friend and I spoke of the fragility of life as she has experienced it in her volunteer work in hospice. And late last night, I found out that another friend and former student, herself in hospice, had transitioned. I felt sad I was not able to say goodbye to her.  One of the things my friend noted in our conversation, is that we all prepare for death in different ways. And I suppose, it is not unlike the way we choose to live our lives. In many ways, this year has been transitional for me. It feels like an "in-between" time - somewhere between "what has been" and "what is not yet," whatever that may be. Sometimes the longest and deepest journey is the one we take within. As I stand on the threshold of 60 years, I have been contemplating and reflecting on many things: What I still want to accomplish and experience, what no longer s...

"Sacred is the pause that brings us into stillness." ~Macrina Weiderkehr The summer is flying by quickly. I hardly know where it it going... I have not spent much time writing this year, but it has been a time of transformations none-the-less...  During the last few months many of my friends have lost parents or dealt with their illnesses, and as many of us stare down a 6th decade or find ourselves already residing there - the reality of mortality stares many of us in the face. So, it is a time to pause. To think. To re-evaluate our lives. To take stock of our journey thus far - the direction we have taken - and ultimately, to consider the weight of our possessions. Sacred is the pause, indeed... In these last few months, of change and transformation for many, the very act of deeply simplifying has beckoned... I have roamed room by room - and drawer by drawer - divesting myself of things - sometimes brutally - only to roam in the same environs again and...

It has been a long time since I have made an entry here... Longer than I ever have in nearly 8 years... So many things have happened, and I wanted to document them them at the time - events occurring in my life - and in the world as well. Some were magical. Some improbable. Some were mystical - and many, just surprising... But solitude, seeking solace, journeying inward, and nurturing my spirit prevailed instead. It was all the Divine order of things... But it doesn't really matter... Throughout all that has happened - and all that has not - I had but one lesson that was presented to me over and over again. I summarize it in this way: "Choose LOVE!" Whatever the question, the answer is always the same: Choose LOVE! Whatever the tasks and the challenges at hand, Choose LOVE! Whatever life presents to you - whatever the slights, or the triumphs, Choose LOVE! Every time we choose love, something changes. Something shifts. Something improve...

"Choose joy." No matter the question or the situation - choose joy... This is the message I received, just a week ago today, when I experienced darshan with Mother Meera for the fourth time in the last few years. The moment I looked into her infinite eyes, it was like gazing deeply into the cosmos and into Eternity. Time stood perfectly still. I sat in my seat and meditated afterwards, feeling her hands still placed on my head, as she continued to purify my soul. Every opportunity I have darshan with Mother, I receive exactly what I need... The first two times, my life was tumultuous and I was in such a state of need, but by the third time I had navigated rough waters and left it behind, and so my experience was lighter, more blissful, and joyous... This time, it was all about joy - feeling joy - embodying joy - becoming joy - and most importantly - I was prompted to share joy... Everything I read or came across during the course of the week was a reminder to exp...

This week, for the first time in almost three years, I went back into the river... Yes, this same river that for several years, beginning in '08, first invited me in, and then beckoned... And so, I obediently responded to its calling, bought a kayak, and without any experience, launched myself off from the shore into a Great Unknown, relinquishing all control over where it would take me - both inwardly and outwardly... For the next few years, in stillness and silence, the River taught me all I needed to know. It yielded up its secrets, as I was companioned by blue herons and the bass fish that occasionally jumped out of the water to give me the once over... I forded into the waters and mists in the fog, performed penitential rituals during the High Holy Days, and chanted mantras in various sacred languages, over and over again. And in my ear the River whispered over and over again - "Let it go. Do not fight the current. Just flow"... and many more such sayings. I ...

A gentle snow falls, on this day of triple plays - of the Vernal Equinox, a New Moon, and a Solar Eclipse. A powerful confluence of energies conspires to shift things within us and catapult us into transformation! I am excited to see the breathtaking beauty of what will perhaps be the last snowflakes until winter dawns once again... I head down to the river and am blessed to have it all to myself. The graying sky for a moment reminds of The Mists of Avalon - and I half expect the mists to be parted, revealing a hidden magical kingdom! Out in the gentle snow fall, with an occasional cardinal hopping from one snow laden branch to the other, and geese flocking in formation, I speak my prayers, my affirmations, and my Lovingkindness recitations - offered up like a Litany of saints... I speak my prayers and intentions out loud in hopes that they will move mountains and shift energy, for indeed it is right and just - and necessary - as proclaimed in the Catholic liturgy. I ref...