Smile into Suffering

Suffering is not enough. Life is both dreadful and wonderful. 

How can I smile when I am filled with so much sorrow? 

It is natural--
you need to smile to your sorrow because you are more than your sorrow.

Thich Nhat Hanh

When I find myself overcome by despair or fear

Remembrance of truth helps me walk through

Without succumbing to the darkness

During times of extreme trial

I've covered my walls with

Words of strength, hope and encouragement

Reminders of the bigger picture

Of the temporary nature of events and experiences in this life

I read them aloud to myself 

Until the truths they contain

Seep in and settle my soul

'Til I'm able to release the fear

and rest in the solid goodness of Love

Smiling at oneself is so very important

Grace and tenderness

Loving kindness

Thich Nhat Hanh talks of smiling at your fears 

in recognition, acceptance and love

When I remember

When I lovingly smile at my internal woundedness

. . . my human frailties

And extend compassion and love to all aspects of self
(and others)

Peace returns

A simple smile can change everything

Truths remembered can save us from depths which threaten to overwhelm

So, I remember.
I smile.  I speak truth.

Until the words are part of me
Seeds taking root

Through it all

Whenever we can smile within ourselves

and remember the precious beloveds that we are

We will more quickly return to the sunshine

on the other side

Sometimes your joy is the source of your smile, 

but sometimes your smile can be the source of your joy.

Thich Nhat Hanh

Liminal Space

Do I honor today as sacred and special?

Do I honor myself today, as sacred, special, precious?

What lines do I draw?

Which divisions do I create?

  We are in liminal space whenever past, present, and future time come together in a “full” moment of readiness. We are in liminal space whenever the division between “right here” and “over there” is obliterated in our consciousness.

Richard Rohr 

What some call “liminal space” or threshold space  (limen in Latin means a threshold, a starting line in a race, or a beginning place) is a very good phrase for those special times, events, and places that open us up to the sacred. 

It seems we need special (“sacred”) days to open us up to all days being special and sacred; we need special and sacred times to universalize to all time.

What became All Saints’ Day and All Souls Day (November 1-2) were already called “thin times” by the ancient Celts, as also were February 1-2 (St. Bridget’s Day and Candlemas Day when the candles were blessed and lit). The veil between this world and the next world was considered most “thin” and most easily traversed during these times. On these days, we were invited to be aware of deep time—that is, past, present, and future time gathered into one especially holy moment. 

Do I honor today as sacred and special?

Do I honor myself today, as sacred, special, precious?

What lines do I draw?

Which divisions do I create?

Smile.

Release.

Be.

In this sacred space.

http://myemail.constantcontact.com/Daily-Meditation--Liminal-Space----Frame----May-27--2013.html?soid=1103098668616&aid=6fV6Ti4P-os

On the Prairie

 

I remember your voice

 Melodies in the wind

Vast.  Wild.

Whipping across the prairie

Snatching my breath away

As you rushed past

I remember you

Joy.  Life.  Energy.  

Lifting me

Carrying my laughter to the skies

I remember you

Solid.  Still.

Immense quiet

Within which I'd rest

Snuggling into the earth

Beneath tall stalks of wheat

Golden against blue sky

Abstract Sky/Ciel Abstrait by David Dubois

Oregon USA Stalks of Wheat by Craig Tuttle

Love's Song

I've always felt comfortable 

Singing 

Not always comfortable

Speaking

A Cameroonian dancer once spoke these words 

(accompanied by a wide grin)

as we danced in a drum circle:

"You have music in your veins!"

Yes, yes!

(and my son said, "Mom you belong in Africa!")

Yes, and yes!

Life is rhythm

Rhythm is life

A constant flow

That I feel

I've had the thought

"if I ever lost my voice:

if I could no longer sing,

I could not live"

I'm still breathing

and fairly coherent

so I am, indeed,

Still living

I've experienced difficulties

with my voice over the years

I wrote of them in a post last year*

I carry a great deal of fear

around my throat and voice

Yesterday, I was reading

Dylan Morrison's, Prodigal Prophet**

This author has also had voice issues

He found a book which speaks of

possible underlying reasons for physical symptoms.

As I read the following words in Dylan Morrison's book

They had a profound effect on me

Cutting straight to the heart

"Chronic laryngitis was described as a form of self-repression experienced by those with a vital message to tell, who sadly suffered from low self-esteem.  Now I understood:  God had called me to speak His words to the hurting and lonely but I’d shied away from the task due to my false sense of humility.  My health had suffered as a result.  

Clearly I was to speak out all that I sensed and felt."

"I now realized why I had to tell my story, 

this book being the fruit of that simple revelation."

(Prodigal Prophet, p.209)

After reading the above, I searched the internet 

and found this on a website regarding 

psychological causes for physiological maladies:

"Loss of voice is a message from the body

 that you fear communicating vocally."

"The throat is the energy center relating to creativity and it must be kept open for creativity to flow through every area of your life."***

Quite honestly, I don't know exactly what this means for me.

I do know that I have been experiencing deep transformations

in recent years, and especially in recent weeks.

I continue on my journey to be ever more sensitive to Love within me

To draw ever nearer to my Source

I am being led to deeper stillness within

To walk more slowly (even when I run!)

To notice 

To find pleasure in Now

Always

(so easy to envision and accomplish, when I'm not sad or in pain!)

I am learning to smile, always

From within

In the midst of darkness

(mustn't deny what is . . . not judge it)

I feel the call to sing my song

Whatever that may be

(and I fear, still, that my physical voice will not be up to the task)

We each have a song . . . a dance . . . a poem

Which is only ours****

This is our life journey, is it not?

To recognize . . . 

The dance steps that are ours,

Our life song's melody, 

Our poetic pentameter?!

The source for all of these 

Is our Source

Which is Love

I listen for my song.

One only I can recognize

and only my voice can express

I am singing what I know

Will sing more as it is received
Recognized

I might not always understand

Surely, I will not

I pray that Love will be received

I trust my fears will not prevent

Love's song from flowing

I walk . . . I dance . . . I smile

Within

Joyful expectations

Fill me

Oh, throat of mine;

Be free!

Adventure awaits!

http://www.enchgallery.com

*http://theeternaldance.blogspot.com/2011/01/my-voice.html

**https://www.facebook.com/AuthorDylanMorrison

***http://www.ecoutetoncorps.com/ressources_en_ligne/definition_20_maladies_e.php

****http://theeternaldance.blogspot.com/2011/01/be-bird.html

Loving the Other

A life without love is a waste. “Should I look for spiritual love, or material, or physical love?”, don’t ask yourself this question. Discrimination leads to discrimination. Love doesn’t need any name, category or definition. Love is a world itself. Either you are in, at the center…either you are out, yearning.

~ Shams Tabrizi

Judgment is a symptom of perceived disconnect.

People want to bash the one who had the abortion until its their cherished sister

Or rally against the gay until its their beloved brother

Or demonize the Republican until it's their kind neighbor.

Or marginalize the homeless addict until its their treasured grown child.

It's tempting for all of us to judge and we all do.

Our freedom isn't in never judging...

It's in noticing that we do and recognizing that it comes from the illusion of separation from each other.

We are all connected.
Created.
Designed.
And threaded together by this common strand of the human and divine experience.

Created by Love
For Love

To receive and give love. Mother Theresa's words call to me often,   "We have no peace because we have forgotten that we belong to each other."

We belong
To each other.

♥

Stacey Robbins

• http://www.bloombeautiful.co
• http://www.staceyrobbins.com

Such love has no fear, because perfect love expels all fear. 

If we are afraid, 

this shows that we have not fully experienced 
perfect love.

1 John 4:18

Fear divides

Love unites

Across all divisions

All differences

What do I fear

When I believe I cannot accept you

(and extend kindness and compassion)

If your beliefs or actions

don't match what I believe to be true and right?  

Am I a "conservative" condemning the "liberal" . . . 

Or, the "liberal" condemning the "conservative"?
(insert whatever boxes or divisions are important to you)
Do I hate people because they are hateful?  
(does this not, by definition, make me a hater?)

Do I draw lines of inclusion and exclusion,
or does my love and acceptance include all people - 
the "greatest" and the "least"? 

Love never fails
Everything else
Will