Reaching Compassion

I sit on a cliff top overlooking the ocean, an arbutus tree behind me. From a small satchel I pull out some sage, bound together in a small bundle, and I place this on the ground before me. I light this with a wooden match and as the smoke from the sage rises, I become heady with the scent of nature. As I use the sage to smudge myself; allowing the smoke to carry any negative energy away, I say my prayers and open my heart.

It is in the instant that I know that my life is both vast and insignificant at the same time.

Creator holds me in the palm of a great and loving hand as I close my eyes and let the mist from the ocean wash my mind and body clean. I become one with the Earth and She shares with me her rich and powerful energy. I begin to drum in rhythm to the beating heart of Earth. My Spirit flies free and I know the possibilities of pure love. I know I will be provided with all I require and I am blessed by this knowing. Gone from my heart are stress and worry, replaced by faith and peace. It is my faith that carries me ever farther along my spiritual journey to a place of bliss; to a place of compassion.

I open my eyes and see the sun peeking out from behind the clouds. I hear the call of the seagulls and smell the fresh ocean air. I am not separate from these creations of nature, as my senses remind me. I AM nature; with Creator protecting me from above and Earth supporting me from below.

As I arise to return home my eyes fall upon the debris left behind by my people and I am compelled to pick up what does not belong; a small offering to this Earth and to the Creator who holds me. I am listening to the voice of Spirit as my Ancestors once did and I know I belong here. All else falls away in these moments and I simply am. I am simply Spirit.

When I know compassion I know the face of God...it is reflected in those I look upon, reflected in my touch and in my heart.

Upon the cliff I access this place, this compassion, each time longer then the time before. It matters that I try, that we all try.

Gratitude

Living a life of gratitude has many rewards. No doubt you know that this is a wonderful way of being: feeling and expressing gratitude for all that is. Yet, most of us fail to practice this each and every day. We get caught up in our lives, in negative thoughts and spirals and soon we have lists of what is wrong with our life; wrong job, wrong relationship, wrong home. We long for something else. Something other than what we have manifested through the power of our own thoughts and feelings. It is a behaviour that is reinforced by the society we live in. We focus on the “wrongness” of the world; what we don’t have enough of, what we are afraid of, always anticipating the next disaster.

Yet, when we stop, when we spend time contemplating what we have, what we have drawn to us and what we wish to draw to us, we are filled with a sense of hope and empowerment. The truth is that we are exactly where we are meant to be and have exactly what we are meant to have, because we manifest what we believe we deserve. Manifesting something different means believing we deserve something different. Changing those beliefs begins with loving what is, right now. Should you choose to step into a grateful way of being you will notice that fear will disappear. When we let go of fear we make room in our lives for abundance. We make room for possibility.

Think of a time in your life when you believed that you were stuck, trapped. Your energy drains, there is no expansiveness. Even the smallest dream seems impossible to attain. Now take a moment to consider what you are grateful for; anything, no matter how small. Allow yourself to feel your gratitude with your whole heart. Feel the expansiveness that arises in you, the feeling of possibility, of hope!

I encourage you to love what IS in your life right now. Love your home for providing you warmth and shelter in the cold winter months, love your body for its ability to endure, love your partner for all they have to teach you, love your job for providing you with means to survive. Find what you are grateful for, no matter how small it may seem, and feel that gratitude with all that you are. Try starting each morning and ending each night with a statement of gratitude. Imagine what you will free within you once you love what is right before you.

And then there's my dog who just wants to run on the beach and live the life he has. Wouldn't that be nice...to just be content and not have to consider the bigger questions...just run and enJOY! (Photo of my dog Whatley by Philip Dykes)

Compassion

I have often written of compassion and mercy in the quiet hours before dawn as I journal my thoughts. I reflect on these qualities knowing that they are crucial for healing my life, the lives of others and the life of our planet. Yet as I sit to write about these now, I am lost for words because I am not ‘fully there’. I am
on the journey to embody these qualities in my Spirit and to consistently come from the place within that would extend these to others in all situations. Yet I find
that when I look upon another with eyes of compassion and hands ready to help, that I am made more whole, more human and that I receive much more than I give.

Mercy:
My hands are meant to heal, but what
have my hands done?
So many hours idle, so many years at
work for others.
There are multitudes in such need
and my hands could help, as tools for
the work of Spirit.
My Spirit, collective Spirit.
What dreams have I not dreamed?
What yearning has my heart locked
away?
If my hands were mine again, maybe I
could build a Shelter, maybe a
sanctuary, where mercy could be
found, and forgiveness in abundance.
My hands would caress the aged face
of a man full of regrets and shame.
I would smooth his creased brow
and whisper words of love in his ear
and some small piece of his heart
would heal.
My hands used to be good strong
hands.
Now they shake and open and close
and are restless to hold tenderly
the searching hands of another.