Sunday, May 20, 2012

5/21/12—Revering the Whispers of God

Today's Draw: Reverence from Mystic Art Medicine by Cher Lyn. Have you had an experience recently that you consider reverent? What sacred messages have your life experiences been bringing you? Is there a special ritual or practice you have to honor your most reverent moments?

Mystic Art Medicine is a beautiful deck of Oracle cards that I found on my own "reverent" journey this past weekend. For deck hounds like myself, I'll say the stock is flimsy. I don't like flimsy stock if I can avoid it, but I'm not sorry I got these cards because everything else about them is top quality. The art is very spiritual and symbolic, the printing quality is good and the cards are well oversized, making them harder to shuffle, but easier to see and read. They really are beautiful cards. 

Reverence is about honoring the god in you and honoring life by showing deep respect for what comes. It's about seeing and acknowledging the sacred within you and your life. It's about both the special moments and the mundane. There is nothing within us or without us that is not sacred.

Today I happened upon a young neighbor boy that was in his daddy's arms getting his bottle. As I rubbed my finger on his tiny, new feet, there was a connection. He gave me a smile as his formula dribbled down his cheek and suddenly his bottle became less important. He stared into my eyes, let go of his bottle and basked in whatever he saw in me. That, of course, was a blessed experience and gave me a smile. I softened my voice further when I spoke to him and the sound of it delighted him further, which delighted me. 

I like to think of babies as special beings that can see and register things that adults can't. So it makes me feel good that, up until about the age of three or so, children are transfixed by me. Because they're seeing something in me that's more beautiful than the way I see myself.  I would think I would get the opposite reaction from the tiny ones, because I'm a big person with a big voice. I'm also not really a kid person. I only like them when they're not crying or making noise. But toddlers and below seem to see past all of that to something more basic and godly...like they can see the light of a person's connection to spirit or something like that. 

Once kids get past three, all bets are off in regard to me. The neighbor kid on the other side is around 7 or 8 years old and he is intimidated by me, as is his younger sister. The poor kids occasionally have to come over to ask a question or deliver a message from the mother. You can tell it's a horror show for them. They've heard their parents talk about the weird lady next door, along with whatever misconceptions they might have about me. Since most people assume I'm a witch, that's probably what they think. And, traditionally, children's stories that feature witches don't necessarily go well...kids get baked into pies or turned into lizards or suffer an outbreak of warts.

Anyway, the poor neighbor boy comes over the other day to retrieve a lacrosse ball that has sailed over the fence and you can see the worry in his eyes. Will this be the day Hansel gets captured by the witch and locked in a cage, fattened up and made into stew? He thrusts a jar of strawberry jam into my hands, hoping this will grease the wheels and secure his future. The worst part of it is that it was a wasted trip. I had actually seen the ball earlier in the day and thrown it back into his yard. I could tell he didn't quite believe my story. The anxiety was palpable.

Two different neighbor boys from two different neighbors, bringing two different energies to the table. But each was pretty precious in its own way. Each brought a lesson—a message from God. Each revealed the truth of a side of me that I don't often get to see from the outside. There's that ability within me to be a magical being like the infant saw, one wrapped in an aura of light. Then there's the byproducts of what happens when you believe and practice outside of the realm of Judeo-Christian religion in this country. Things are assumed, misunderstood and wrapped in fear. And if I'm going to be who I am, I have to take responsibility for both sides. 

Reverence is not only taking responsibility for who we are and what happens in our worlds, but it's also in seeing, acknowledging and taking action on the divine wisdom of it...in short, giving life's experiences the respect they deserve. Even the worst situations come to show you who you are, where you've grown, how you've changed, where you need to change, where to find your responsibility and how deep the layers of your onion go. The same is true of your best moments. Though it's sometimes hard to remember and realize, both hold the whispers of God and should be equally revered.

No comments:

Post a Comment