Tag Archives: advent meditation

And I wonder… what does God call me?

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O Come. O Come Emmanuel.

The third Sunday of Advent has past. Christmas Eve awaits.

Anticipation hangs in the air, glittering with the shimmer of a thousand candles glowing in the night. And still we move further into the darkness. This season of ice, where cold has seized the birds’ wings. Where news of The Christchild’s coming rings forth across the land. Where yearning for the sun’s return rings in every heart.

I wait in expectation of the holy of holy nights when hope shall spring forth in a world of peace, hope, joy and Love.

And still, my heart is heavy. Our world so sorely in need of peace continues to gravitate towards pain, war,
suffering, killing. Our world so desperately in need of quiet rages in the agony of death.

And still I wait.

O Come! O Come! Emmanuel.

O Come! Bring forth peace, hope, love and joy.
Bring it on oh holy one. Bring it on.

I am ready. I am willing. I am open to peace, hope, love and joy.

And still I wait.

Frustration rises. Fear edges into my awakening.

Can we not see? Can we not know that we are killing one another with our guns and ammunition. Our
insistence that we are right, they are wrong. Our fighting for ground. For religious beliefs and social
acceptance.

Can we not see?

O Come! O Come! Emmanuel

And I am reminded. Peace begins with me. I cannot make peace when I hold onto anger, fear, frustration. I
cannot be peace when I make war against the world around me.

O Come O Come Emmanuel
And ransom captive Israel
That mourns in lonely exile here
Until the Son of God appear
Rejoice! Rejoice! Oh Israel. To thee shall come Emmanuel

I remember as a child my mother humming this song. Her sweet clear voice echoing in the dark. I loved to
hear her sing. Loved to hear her voice.

And I breathe.

And hear the invitation to deepen my understanding of this season and its promise of peace, hope, love
and joy.

I breathe and feel its truth calling to my heart, this universal truth that speaks of our humanity — we are
born in the reflection of God, Yahweh, Allah. We embody God’s greatness, him or her or it – it doesn’t
matter what word we use for God. She does not listen to our words. Hhe hears our hearts. It sees our
truth.

We are limitless in our possibilities. We are magnificent. We are holy. We are divine.

This is not ‘God’ as limited by our language, but rather a concept of God that is unlimited through a
broadening of our vocabulary — The Divine. Creator. Yaweh. Almighty Father. The Divine Mother. King of Kings. Spirit. Lord. Allah. Buddha. Brahma. Divine Mystery.

So many names and yet, always the same message — to come home to Love. To be loving. To allow Love to be our answer in all things, all ways, all beings.

In this time of waiting, in this time of darkness I let go of the words I know and step into that place where I
broaden my ‘God vocabulary’. That place where I lean beyond the secular of my language to the Divine
presence embodied in the collective will of woman/man, a spirit that embraces me in wonder as I stand in Love.

In love, I breathe into my divine essence and come home to my heart.

In love, I come home to the One.

In love, I hear the Divine calling of my name as I embrace the beauty and the wonder of my human condition, this condition I share with each of you for we are each are the Divine Expression of Amazing Grace, no matter the names we use to call God, Creator, Yaweh, Allah and so many more.

And I wonder, I call God many things. What does God call me?

Child. Friend. Believer. One. What does God call me?

Perhaps the answer is… Home.

_____________________________

Seeds of possibility. Awaken and Shine.

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shutterstock_118318609All life contains the seeds of possibility. It’s just, when we’re busy staring into the past, looking back at what went wrong, or what we can’t fix, or what we can’t do, or what others have done to us that we don’t like, our eyes are closed to the light of possibility breaking through the darkness. We see only our fears.

Here in the Northern Hemisphere, the nights lengthen and the warmth of the sun weakens with every passing moment as the shadows stretch across the snow drawing heaven to earth on the far horizon. In the dark winter nights we huddle around the hearth waiting for the coming of light, waiting for the dawn to break across the horizon and set us free from the darkness all around.

Advent approaches and with it we are invited to step into the sacred, to delve into the mystery and wonder of a child’s birth over 2,000 years ago. A birth that continues to resonate throughout mankind with its power to remind us that we are each and everyone of us, holy, sacred and divine.

15th Century mystic, Meister Eckhart wrote, “What good is it to me if Mary gave birth to the Son of God fourteen hundred years ago and I do not also give birth to the Son of God in my time and in my culture? We are all meant to be Mothers of God.”

As I meditated this morning, thoughts of the sacredness of my human condition wrapped themselves around my thinking, challenging me to step out of my meditative state into wonderment and awe. What if, I truly am the divine reflection of amazing grace? What if, we are each and every one of us the embodiment of divine grace enfleshed in the sacred call to be of service to one another through the very act of our being Mothers of God? What if we truly are the expression of the African word  Ubuntu? –  I am what I am because of who we all are. I am because of you.

And what if it is my fear of letting go of who I am to become all that I am because of you that holds me back from becoming all that I am? What if I don’t trust you to be there in all your glory, worthiness, Love? What if I don’t trust you to be your own unique expression of the Divine on earth? What if I don’t trust in the divine nature of Love and its infinite capacity to support me, to stand with me, to be with me in every breath, through every moment?

What if my fear of stepping into the glory and sacredness of my human condition is all I need to overcome to embrace my holy nature, to embody my divine grace, to express my sacred soul and birth my own unique expression of Love?

What if I let go of my fear of being sacred, divine, holy and breathe into the darkness to find the light of Love shimmering on the far horizon, drawing me closer to heaven on earth?

What if, I am, we are, each and every one of us, the Divine expression of amazing grace calling us to awaken from the darkness and shine?

 

 

 

 

arebecause you are?

Let us be the change — it makes a difference

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IMG_2991We met for brunch yesterday. I am grateful.

The band of ‘peace angels’ as Kerry Parsons, the inspiration behind Calgary Summer of Peace calls us, met at my home for a celebration of all that we accomplished this past year and to create space for all we’re capable of creating in days to come. As we went around the table sharing what was in our hearts, I sat in awe of the beauty of the souls with whom I have experienced such joy and peace throughout our journey through Summer of Peace and beyond.

We began the festivities with the lighting of the Advent Candle, one of four candles set in a wreath I have created to honour the season. The Advent wreath is a ritual that connects me to my past, to my Catholic upbringing, to my history, my shared experience of being part of a circle of love within my family. Kerry spoke of opening our hearts, of expanding our minds, or grounding ourselves in our capacity to create change, further evolution, be of service to the world. She spoke of letting the light of the candle ignite the flame within each of us to continue to serve the world in peace, hope, love and joy.

Later, as I shared my experiences this past year and where I’ve felt myself expanding into peace, hope, love and joy, my friend Judy said, “You’ve had a year of practice.”

So true.

Writing this blog has been one of the opportunities I’ve experienced this past year to grow into my commitment to be, as Gandhi invited all of us, “the change I want to see in the world.”

I believe in our capacity to create change, to be part of life’s evolutionary impulse to always create, become, expand. I believe in our ability to become ‘the change’ we want to create in the world.

At the beginning of the year I began this blog with the intention of staying conscious of ‘how’ I embodied what it means to ‘make a difference’. I began with the commitment to write about ‘making a difference’ every day.

In the doing, I have changed. In the doing, I have become more of what I want to create in the world — peace. hope. love and joy.

There have been other aspects of my journey that have opened up the space for me to ‘be the change’. From the beginning of the year of choosing to stand in the broken with my beloved and commit to creating the relationship we both desire and deserve to gifting him a poem a day for 14 days at Valentines — and the amazing and awe-inspiring power of that small act to deepen my understanding, and knowing. I continue to write a poem of love every day, to begin each day with Love as my companion and it continues to expand my capacity to open my heart and being to Love every day.

This morning, I sent out my first segment of the Advent meditation and reflection course (Make Time for the Sacred) I’ve created. An act I could not have envisioned doing at the beginning of the year. A step I could not have imagined taking before I consciously brought ‘making a difference’ into my daily commitment to ‘be the change’.

I am grateful.

This year has been an amazing journey. I began nervous, concerned, somewhat tentative. I had just left a job I loved in a place my heart was called to be. I was fearful. Worried. Hopeful.

I reminded myself of the saying, “When one door closes another opens.” I kept watching for open doors, I kept my mind and heart open to their appearance… and they appeared.

Constantly.

I am grateful.

Being here with you each day, meeting you, getting to know you, exchanging thoughts, sharing ideas, feelings, words has expanded my heart and my capacity to be present as ‘the change I want to be’ in the world.

Thank you.

We have entered the first week of advent. As we prepare our hearts, as we open our beings up to the wonder and the majesty of this holy time of year, let us ‘be the change’.

Let us welcome in the change we want to see in the world.

Let us be. Peace. Hope. Love and Joy.

Namaste.

And…. in case you’re wondering if the Advent Reflection and Meditation is something you could become part of, here’s the link to the first recording…