May I not become trapped ...
"May I not become trapped, caught or entangled in false inner networks of negativity, resentment or destruction toward myself. May I treat myself as the nest of God...." John O'DonohueMay I treat myself as the nest of God! What would that look like? The first thing that pops to my mind is the humility it would require. The ultimate "don't know" mindset. When I get really quiet and look at the Pride of Barbados flowers just outside my window, there arises in me an awareness of my being the nest of God. Just for a moment. Just a glimpse. I don't really know how to describe this. I have a hard time staying with it. It is wondrous and frightening too. My monkey mind slips into the experience by whispering something like "...danger, danger...move away, back slowly out of this room ... it isn't meant for you. You will get hurt." Or it says "Who has time for this?" Or "You can do this later, you better do X,Y or Z now"But who will I become if I am not a nest of God? And in these times, these difficult and fearsome times, when the news features children separated from parents at the hands of the US Government; I realize how much work there is for me to make of myself a nest of the divine. I must look into and be with my fears and my immense grief. How can I be a sturdy warm protection from the energies of hate, fear and shame that swirl around us all? For I do not want to cradle the Divine with the fear I often find in my heart these days. What is to be done with it? Surely this is what the Holy Spirit of my Catholic girlhood was for, to help me create a heart that is beyond the geography of fear and worry. Just that thought brings a measure of piece. I will seek to grow a heart that is a nest for God, a heart so open, so wonder-filled, so safe and warm that the Divine could indeed nest here. Is just the wanting this enough?"When the Guest is being looked for, it is the longing that does all the work." KabirI will nurture my imagination for that is what humans can do AND I will double down on my longing for a heart that is beyond fear and all constriction. A heart that could be the nest of God.
Part 2: Moving from one year into the next
“Don’t ask yourself what the world needs. Ask yourself what makes you come alive. And then go and do that. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive.” Howard ThurmanThis Part 2 of "Moving from one year into the next..." is an invocation or a "call". You are invited to glimpse your unknown future, to look into your heart and the year ahead and petition God/the gods to release you to your destiny, to your bold angels. To the part of you that is courageous, even while fearful, and that is joyful and grateful even in the face of loss. To the part of you that is ready to "come alive".In this part of this reflection exercise, you are invited to notice what may want to emerge in your life and in you at this time. When I celebrate the beginning of a new year, I ask myself: "What is the quality or energy that I want to bring into my life in this brand new year?" Consider taking the wisdom of Howard Thurman’s words to his black congregation in the middle of the civil rights movement. His congregation, some would argue, needed everything, but listen to what he said to them:“Don’t ask yourself what the world needs. Ask yourself what makes you come alive. And then go and do that. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive.”So at the dawn of 2013, why not consider answering the questions below and see if you can glimpse what your bold angels might want for you this year:
- What makes you come alive now?
- What would fill your life/your world with "lovely"?
- If you knew you could not fail, what might you do or pursue?
- Where in your life do you want to live or need to live fearlessly?
- What could you get truly excited about bringing forward in yourself? That feeling of “really, really I get to do this or be this?”
Now set this aside for a day or so and come back and reread your answers. What is the new future you declare for yourself in 2013 and why does it matter to you? See if you can write that in a short sentence, maybe in the form of a declaration:I am a commitment to ________________________________for the sake of _________________________.The secret in making a declaration an incarnated reality is to keep it top of mind every day. Make a daily habit of creating 3 small steps you can take toward your declaration. Do this every day.Happy New Year. Happy New You.
Obama & Christie: Out of tragedy, new possibility emerges ... Part 2
Now let's look at the same phenomena on the other side, President Obama. Jungians might say that Obama's leadership shadow is exemplified in Governor Christie (and vice versa.) Obama makes space for others to speak and be seen. He tries deliberately not to take up space or call the spotlight to himself. He possibly sees the Christie directive, passionate, emotionally expressive style of leadership as "old school" and not 21st century. He prefers the servant leadership or the participative leadership model that has been catching on in the last two decades.There have been signs that some other kind of leadership was needed from Obama in addition to his preferred style. Even his supporters have called him out for being too cerebral, for not wanting to truly fight for what matters. For not saying directly what he wants, for not taking charge. Take health care: Obama gave it to the Congress and Senate to work out without clearly saying what he wanted. Christie would have told them what he wanted. There are other examples of Obama refusing to find his inner Christie, but my point here is that most of us refuse the call to change ourselves in a new direction,when it is against our "winning formula" or the identity that has got us where we are today, or when we have held our way as better than or superior to other ways. It is scary to give up what always worked.However, when we are called to change and refuse the call, something (Fate/Life/God) steps into to help us. Sometimes through adversity or pressure and sometimes through offering us an example of our refused capacities in all their glory! For Obama, enter Governor Christie dealing with Sandy and for Christi, enter President Obama supporting him and the people of his state.AND so we get to glimpse another way to lead and to work together through their interaction. We saw that Obama had to ensure through his direct actions and calls to Christie that the government he believes in delivered for Christie. He couldn't sit on the sidelines. He had to get in the game and direct it when necessary. He made sure the red tape that everyone hates in bureaucracies didn't get in the way of FEMA delivering the way he knew it could. We witnessed what a working across the political divide could look like. Now it is our turn to do the hard work of insisting we get it.To my eye, both men glimpsed their "golden shadow" in the other man in the aftermath of Sandy --the next level of greatness for each of them as a leader if they will take the journey of embracing their opposite style. An Obama who takes charge and takes up space when necessary. A Christie who recedes and makes space for others views and leadership or who leads via supporting others leadership. Neither may know this happened consciously. But their unconscious is probably a little less frightened of being their opposite kind of leader.And so too, you and I. Ask yourself: "What it is I am most afraid of becoming?". Now ask yourself "And where in my life could that way of being actually be useful to me?" You will discover that "Our deepest fears are like dragons guarding our deepest treasure." Ranier Maria Rilke
Down with Self-improvement
“God's admiration for us is infinitely greater than anything we can conjure up for Him.” St. Francis of AssisiFor centuries St. Francis has been one of the Catholic Church’s most popular saints. Do his words go straight to your heart? They certainly did mine. Maybe because this change and growth business I am in is a bit tricky. It can leave us over-focusing on flaws or imperfections, which actually from a larger perspective are essential to our true beauty and can well be a distraction from the meaning and purpose or our lives.If your philosophy of life doesn’t include a monotheistic God, you might rewrite the words to say “love”. For example: “Love’s admiration for us is infinitely greater than anything we can conjure up for Love.” But whatever word you use, I think this is a great and abiding truth. There is something much larger than our strategic or left brained understanding and perspective. That something makes things whole. It renders us whole. And whole includes our flaws, so maybe our beauty actually needs our flaws?In the David Whyte poem, Faces at Braga, the poet tells us:If only our own faces would allow the invisible carver's hand to bring the deep grain of love to the surface.If only we knew as the carver knew, how the flaws in the wood led his searching chisel to the very core,we would smile, too and not need faces immobilized by fear and the weight of things undone.When we fight with our failing we ignore the entrance to the shrine itself and wrestle with the guardian, fierce figure on the side of good.When we fight with our failing, when we focus on self-improvement — on how to make things or ourselves better — we miss the entrance to the shrine itself the poet says. That means we miss the point of our lives. We are sacred. Our lives our sacred. This world is sacred.What happens if we trust that our flaws are essential to our brilliance and our goodness? I believe what happens is that we come alive, truly and wholeheartedly alive. And, in the face of such aliveness, “...even the gods speak of God.”