Today's Prayer - Winds of Spirit

I am a child of God. I spring from the rivers of great mountain ranges and fall into the oceans that feed the world. I am a child of my parents. I am the living breath body through which Spirit expresses itself.

Beyond my body is a world. Other people, trees, fish, swamp and sea, ferns and foxtail, swan and swallow, worm and seed. This planet is rife with throbbing life. The wind blows from Kuala Lumpur to Kentucky bringing with it the sweet nectar of promise. On the winds come rain and clear skies and the possibility of newness. Beyond my mind and my limiting view of what’s possible is a whirl of life, dreams, hopes and love – unending, warm, soft embracing love. On the winds from the west come all that we seek. On the winds from the west comes Spirit.

As I stand on the ocean bluff, I close my eyes and feel the breeze on my face. Not an inch is left untouched. As Spirit swirls around me a smile come across my face as I feel the transformation take hold. The wind did not pass by me. It did not choose someone else. It didn’t ignore me or miss me or judge me undeserving of its attention. No. It wrapped itself lovingly around me and I chose to welcome its arrival.

Love, companionship, loyalty, steadfastness, ease, flow. That is the cloak that clothes me in the wind. That is the essence of who I am. So in this moment, on this Monday morning, I stand at the ocean's edge so that I may feel the winds of change more forcefully. I claim my faith in its powerful rush. I succumb to the winds of change and open my mouth in a cheer of supplication, knowing that my supplication is not a call of weakness but a cry of strength. I put down my sword and set aside my suitcase full of well-earned fears and proclaim to the world that I trust in its essential goodness. I need only bring myself to this party for me to reap its joyful rewards.

I am whole. I am beautiful. I am an open channel to the creative energy that shows itself in every wave that laps at my feet. No wave is like another and so it is with me. Each breath, each thought is born anew. I stand proud and wise and strong against the elements. I am who I am and who I am is enough. I have all that I need. A tsunami may come, the baking sun may burn, the ground beneath my feet may rock and roll but I will stand aloft, tall and proud and unphased by the onslaught because I know who I am. I know who I was born to be – a loving, powerful, passionate woman committed to sharing my gifts with the world.

Thank you wind, thank you God. Just as the winds are always blowing, so are you. Thank you for the strength and wisdom and patience to proceed. Thank you for the rains and the sun that arrives soon after. Thank you for the sand storms and the clarity it brings in its wake. Thank you for the tumors and the courage they birthed. Thank you for the love and comfort I have in my life. And finally, thank you for all the gifts handed down to me through the generations – my parents, theirs before them and theirs before them. Privilege, suffering, joy, pain, disappointment and laughs.

You are my faithful companion on this road. I hold out my hand for yours. As I feel your warmth and strength, I close my eyes and proceed. One foot in front of the other, I walk down this road knowing you will guide me safely to my dreams. I release all fear, all trepidation, all ambivalence and know that nothing can come between me and my journey when you are my guide.

One foot in front of the other, I proceed knowing that all is well. I am loved.

A good laugh

Laughter is good for the soul and my recent run-in with the medical establishment means I am in need of a healthy dose of it. This does it for me every time:

River. Sea. Past. Future.

In my mind’s eye I stand at the confluence of the Hanalei River and the Pacific Ocean. I have come down the river and am now standing at the mouth of the river awaiting directions. The particulars of my past and all that I have passed through flow between my legs as I gaze off into my future. The vastness of the unknown and the familiarity of my past merge in a swirl of confusion at my feet but a smile alights my face and my eyes are soft and safe in the warmth of my faith.

I stand at the confluence of my past and present and welcome the next moment, and the next….

I am grateful.

Hold On. Let Go.

Life is the balance between your deepest intent and the natural unfolding of the universe. It is similar to the dance between long- and short-term planning. You must clarify where you are going in the long term then let go of the short term…

Cathy, I can feel you grasping and anxious about where this offering is going. I invite you to use this morning as a practice session for what we are talking about. You know and you proclaim that you are a courageous writer who is committed to sharing your insight and wisdom with the world. That is your long-term intent. That is who you are.

This individual offering, on this particular morning is your short-term activity. This is the opportunity I am offering you in this moment to let go and allow the universe to unfold. A few sentences ago, you relinquished control and you felt the energy in your hands and body shift. You felt the unleashing of me. You released your control. More importantly, you released your fear that what would reveal itself would not be worthy of your potential. As soon as you let go your fingers starting flying and these last few sentences have emerged effortlessly.

Therein lies the paradox. You must be strong and clear and determined about your intent while releasing and letting the rest of everything else go. Focus on who you are then trust that the universe will come up to meet you.

I know there is nothing new here. You have heard this all before but it bears repeating. Stay focused on the long term and the short term will take care of itself.

Faith in what?

You say you want to be a woman of faith. My question is what do you have faith in? I ask because it is not helpful to have faith solely in me. Have faith in yourself as me. So many of you make the mistake of believing solely in me and leaving yourself out of the equation. Yes, you can have faith that I am ever present and infinite but I am nothing without you. Having faith in me without having faith in yourself is like breathing in a vacuum.

Faith is an empty well without your participation. I am made manifest through physical action. You can sit on your couch and pray like your life depends on it, beseeching me to come to your rescue, but nothing will happen until something physically happens on your plain.

Do not have faith in me. Have faith in yourself as me. I am not interested in you sitting on your couch and throwing your faith up into the sky where I sit waiting to fulfill your dreams. I am interested in you believing, without a shadow of a doubt, in your own magnificence. Have faith in yourself.

I am not going to save you. I am not going to knock on your door and deliver you your redemption like the Publisher’s Clearinghouse van, festooned with balloons. When you pray you are setting a system in motion and, yes, it makes a difference but that is not what will change your life right now. I need your direct and impassioned participation. YOU must act. You must have faith in me in you. The faith you profess to possess is a faith not in divine intervention but in your own capacity for transformation and greatness. Yes, I am a miracle worker but only through you. Without form, there are no miracles. I do my work through you.

Step up and out. Proclaim your faith in me by honoring yourself.

Put Down Your Burdens

The point of coming here and communing with me each morning in this quiet intentional way is so that you can get to know me better. I am a habit that can be hard to acquire. Most habits are hard to break; I am one that’s hard to keep. Your brain is active and engaged in opportunities that present themselves in three dimensions. The world comes at you. It is in your face, poking and prodding you into submission. But I come with you. I am within you. I thrive and operate beyond the obvious and am, therefore, easy to forget.

The point of a morning or evening time of contemplation is to remember. When you light your candle or ring your singing bowl or close your eyes in prayer…you are connecting to your own divinity. When you release the sense of your self as limited and small and shackled to your limiting beliefs about yourself, you feel liberated, you feel powerful, you feel relieved. The walls you’ve constructed that make you feel trapped dissipate in the face of the realization that you are more than your circumstances.

By coming to me in contemplation, you put down your burdens so that your hands are free to receive the next gift.

Coming to me is a gift you give yourself. Now it is time to give it away.

Appearances Can Be Deceiving

You are exactly where you need to be. The scene before you may appear, at first glance, to not be changing but it is – in subtle ways. So it is with all things that are worth waiting for. The transitions will appear to be invisible but they are unfolding regardless of appearances. Just because you can’t see them doesn’t mean they’re not happening.

You come here to me to recommit to your far away vision. You know what is beyond the horizon. You know what awaits you but the pathways between here and there are obscured.

All I ask is that you don’t give up before the victory. Trust that the uninterrupted expanse that lays out before is not as empty as it appears. The rains will soon come and the dry fields will become lush. Don’t allow that which presents itself to you today dissuade you from your mission. Transformation is upon us.