By Judith Taylor
The Answer to a Prayer
"It's done - this month's column is finished." The
article that I thought was completed was all about spring cleaning- houses, bodies, minds, emotions and spirits. That was good processing for me, excellent preparation for what Divine Mind put into my hands this morning. The Universe frequently communicates with me through the medium of books that come into my hands, and the message is so clear that even I can't ignore it. The title of this one is "Embracing The Beloved: Relationship as a Path of Awakening" by Stephen and Ondrea Levine. The Message in the book is so moving for me that I alone can't contain it - I have to share the energy.
First, a little background is in order. For years my guidance had
been that no matter how much I wished to live in a monastic setting, my live was to be spent in service out in the world, not in retreat form it.
Two years ago, an affirmative prayer was co-written with my prayer/process partner on the issue of creating my life and my entire environment as sacred space. The first six months I contemplated it daily. The next six months, each day I read it once. Over the next year the existence of that piece of paper was gradually forgotten - yet a few days ago it surfaced again during - you guessed it - a bout of housecleaning. Everything that was written has come to pass. Not suddenly, not easily, and above all, not pain - free -- yet rewarding beyond belief..
Tending to my relationship with the Divine Beloved. Tending to the space between me and God, has meant tending to my space. This has meant that on a daily, hourly, minute by minute basis I have to remember - when it is time to slow down… to stop and pray… to take even a second to contemplate… to wonder… to breath in the presence of God? The answer to that question, of course, is when I would be least likely to normally do so - under stress, in a hurry, upset because my buttons have been pushed by some outside event. What in this situation belongs to God? And what is mine? How can I claim it when it hurts? To quote Stephen and Ondrea Levine: "The distance form your pain, your grief, your unattended wounds, is the distance from your partner. And the distance from your partner is your distance from the living truth, your own great nature…" (And, I might add, the distance from your friend, neighbor, acquaintance, stranger-all God wearing human form.) "To work mindfully with all that arises in the mind that might obstruct the heart is the path of coincidence of the heart and mind. To use all that arises in relationship as work on oneself, as grist for the mill of deep inner growth, allows yet subtler whispers to become audible." Tending to this on a consistent basis has brought the opportunity to create, acknowledge and celebrate sacred space and the Divine Relationship with the people and places in my life.
Slowly over these two years the people that share their lives with me have become those who are equally invested in tending their space with the Beloved, and have created wonderful sacred spaces in their won parts of this world. "When true hearts truly join there is a mystical union. An interconnecting of whole human beings, which is the foundation for great insight and growth. It is a collaboration in healing it is a collaboration in healing," This is when we remember nothing exists but God, the Divine Mind, the Beloved-and for a this time, we are aware of our wholeness, our holiness-and are at peace.