Stormy times awaken deeper dreams

Slowly the sky darkens as the gentle cooling ocean breezes gradually grow stronger and within moments a lovely day, a lovely life, turns tempestuous.

You're caught off guard.  The main sail is flailing against the tightly held sheet and you're holding on for dear life, afraid that if you let go, if you give in to the pressure and the rising winds of darkness, your boat will give way to the storm and you'll be lost at sea.

It is no accident that life is sometimes likened to a storm at sea.  A storm shakes you up like nothing else.  Heaven has her ways of getting our attention. Sometimes when we're faced with a life storm, or just an overwhelming sense of fear, personal or professional failure, we find ourselves slipping out of control and once we're off center, we don't know how we got there and we don't know how to get back. It's a huge piece of luggage to unpack to uncover what exactly is the source of the problem. And, I don't know if there is any book that really can help calm such a storm because calming the storm isn't the point.  Understanding what is causing it and addressing that, is the point. 

Our culture is brimming with self help books and how to deal with just about everything - from divorce to death of a loved one, to overcoming addiction, to finding the right job, the right house, the right partner.  There's even the well known "Secret" which purports to lead us all into our dreams, smooth sailing All you have to do is just think - dream - your way there.  Oh, if only it were that simple.  Nothing about life is simple.  It's all so beautifully, thrillingly, terrifyingly mysterious.

Is it the changing winds or the nature of the water itself that lends itself to a storm.  It is deep water that's the most potent.  I mean when was the last time you feared for your life in a pond storm?

You, my friends, are deep water and you all run deep.  When heaven wants to awaken you, it's no use if it doesn't get your attention and there's nothing like risking losing your life to get your attention.

Remember, though, as you go through your storm, that God loves you - really, really, really - loves you.  And, God does not want you to perish, but does want you to wake up.  Wake up to the falseness all around you.  Wake up to the vanity and ridiculous obsession so many have to materialism, to power paradigms, circuits of control and a whole realms of malevolent, low-level consciousness.  Let it all go.  I mean that; just let it all go.  Let whatever is blasting your main sail against the mast, just go.  Let go of the main sheet.  Let go of the tiller.  Let go. 

Take a deep breath.  Honor whatever you're feeling.  Don't fight it.  And, let go, at least for a moment and ask God what is going on deep under the stormy sea, deep within you, that's causing this surface tempest.

In short, what are you afraid of?  What are you afraid of losing - or of gaining?  What is the worst thing that can happen?  What is the very worst thing that can happen?  Sometimes a storm is an old wound, an old long forgotten memory, that's trying to work its way up and out of your subconscious, an old thought system that is no longer relevant to your newly ascending self.  And, on its way up and out, it causes a whole lot of trouble, just like it caused in the first place when it was planted there years ago.  

Remember, that you are safe.  Even if it feels like all hell is breaking lose, you are actually safe.  Call on God, ask Divine Mother's guidance, help and protection, and she will never - EVER - fail you.  Light a candle, take a deep breath, invite whatever is causing the storm to just get along with it, and have faith - somehow - that in some incomprehensible way, everything is going to be ok.  In the end, it will all be fine.  

All is well, whether or not you can feel that or see it, all is well.  

And, also, even if you can't feel it, remember that you are loved beyond your wildest imagination.  Your job is to realize that, at least on some microscopic level, and then to live into that beautiful, life giving knowledge.

And, in the morning, the winds will have subsided, and your lovely boat will be rocking gently, like a baby in her mother's arms.  And, then, you will remember, that all really was well.

Monday morning

Running late into a rainy Monday morning was no way to start the day or the week, she thought, but it was a welcome respite after the driest summer on record.

"How unfortunate,"  she thought, looking ahead to their plans for the day.  "We were finally able to coordinate our schedules to meet at Erick's new hiding place for a picnic lunch and it has to rain!"

Erick left for the office early to prepare for the "first thing" Monday morning weekly meeting.  He said he had a surprise for her if she could meet him at 12:30 p.m. at the red and white zebra striped gate at the end of Cardinal Way, behind the old city church, now senior center.  She told him she had a map and would do her best to find it.  Anyway, they had their cell phones.

Driving was terrible.  Sleepy drivers were all, most likely, as surprised by the drizzle as she.  They all, however, may not have a penchant for running late as she did.  

"Oh, great!" she signed, the main road into the rural town where she worked in a migrant clinic was backed up by fire and rescue trucks.  She steered her car to the left stretching to see what was going on up ahead.  

"Just a long line of red brake lights."

 She turned on the radio and tried to not sweat it.

"Oh, man, is this the way this day is going to go?"  she asked the foggy windshield.

"Absolutely not!"  came the reply.  "You cannot let the external circumstances around you dictate and control how you feel about this moment or the next moment or the next, and certainly not the entire day!"  

"Yes, I hear you.  You are absolutely right.  Forgive me for forgetting."  

She knew this and yet was thankful for the quick reminder from that ever-present presence who kept her company as a guest in her mind all the time lately.  

She took a deep breath and relaxed into it, shifting her agitated attitude to gratefulness for the extra few minutes to collect herself.  She whispered a prayer of thanks and praise out to the universe, directed toward God.  In her haste that morning she had skipped her 15 minutes of prayer and realized that this delay might be God's way of keeping their morning date.  She smiled and said thank you out loud.

As she could have anticipated, the delay was only for 15 minutes and the traffic seemed to clear as soon as the tow truck was able to get the two cars off the road.  While an ambulance was on hand, it didn't seem anyone was hurt.  Up ahead, the thirsty brown landscape seemed to be drinking the now pouring rain.  She realized she needed God's presence as much as the lovely hillsides she drove through each day.  Her anxiety lifted.  Maybe she was a bit nervous about Erick's new idea to purchase an old inner city lot.  Maybe she was, but then, maybe, just maybe God was still in charge of things and rather than worry, she could just steep her mind in "Thy will be done."  That could be her new mantra and attitude about his new scheme.  She couldn't recall any of his plans ever being anything less than brilliantly successful.  Why should she worry about this one? 

Prana power

The lush green foliage, vibrant with life, whispered to the flowers, birds and other gentle creatures in the garden his best kept secret.

First a rabbit, then a chipmunk scrambled up to the trunk of the old tree that sat in the center of the garden, to hear his wisdom, uttered ever so closely they could barely make out the sound.

"Do you notice when the breezes dance off your petals or graze your soft fur how good you feel?,"  they heard him ask to the now rapt attention of all in the garden, except the man who had begun coming to visit on his lunch hours.

"See the man who has joined us?  See how he comes in here for an hour? First he is tired and then he is filled with life and energy, all in an hour of sitting here?"  

The old rabbit looked over at the man, who had become his new friend, and agreed the man did indeed seem more vibrant, more joyful after each day he came to sit on the old bench by the pond and waterfall.

"My friends, this isn't a magical garden.  It is just an ordinary garden, but there is something in the air here that is more than magical, but it's everywhere, but maybe just in in a stronger concentration here.  Like Lotus' lovely fragrance, for example.  She contains her scent in the small space of the pond.  If she were in an ocean, her scent would be dispersed throughout the whole ocean and less concentrated.  Here in our walled garden, all our fragrances are just a little bit more concentrated and as the man breathes in steadily, as you have all noticed that he does for an hour with his eyes closed over there, he is breathing in the life energy that we all together are also breathing in and creating. We help make that energy a little bit more powerful here because it increases in our leaves and flower pedals."  

The tallest and brightest of the languid lilies perked up when he said, 'flower pedals.'

"Dear Father Tree, what is it exactly that is in the air that we all breathe that does this for the man and for us?" Lily asked.

"It is life force energy," Father Tree said.

"The entire universe is filled with a subtle energy, a measurable base vibration that runs throughout the universe. It's in the air and in everything.  And, it's not just a dumb energy, it contains a real intelligence of some kind.  It has power. It has life-giving power.  But, since it's invisible to the eye, we can't see it and so we didn't know it was there.  And because we didn't know it was there, we didn't know that we could focus it with our conscious intelligence to direct it for healing.  That's the secret."

The jittery little chipmunk slipped off the acorn at the base of Father trees trunk on which he was sitting like a small child.  Startled, he hopped up, sighed and sat back down.  His tiny foot hurt now.  Father Tree noticed that little chipmunk's foot seemed injured by his slippage.

"Son, you have just provided me with an excellent opportunity to demonstrate exactly what I'm teaching you here," Father Tree said to the chipmunk.

"Son, close your eyes and inside your mind see that tender spot on your little leg.  Now, breathe in deeply, hold it for just the count of three ... one....two....three.  Now, exhale, and as you exhale imagine the sunshine in the air you're exhaling going all the way down from your lungs to your little foot."

Chipmunk sat there and did just as Father Tree told him to do.  He was completely undisturbed when the man got up to go back to work.  He knew he would see him the next day.  The little chipmunk, more monkey than chipmunk, just kept slowly breathing in the magical air and exhaling it slowly allowing it to bathe his foot in the universal life force energy that Father Tree told him was all around and inside him, fully permeating the air, but was especially strong here in the garden.  After a few minutes, he opened his eyes as all the flowers, birds and other gentle creatures of the garden had remained circled around him.

"How do you feel?"  Father Tree asked little chipmunk.

"I feels great!!"  he exclaimed and jumped up, dancing around on the tree's large root as if he'd never hurt himself.

"That's what I'm talking about," Father Tree said.

"That beautiful life force energy that gives us life, that is the measurable energy of the universe, that is throughout everything and in everything has a power in it to heal.  That power is called prana," he said, adding "When you breathe it in, it gives you energy. When you direct it to a hurt part of your leaf, flower pedal, wing or furry foot, you actually use your conscious mind to direct it to that area that needs healing." 

"You've all heard fat Mr. Fred Frog talk for hours about the power of our concentration, that it's like pointing a flashlight or a laser which focuses our conscious power onto something.  I know I've seen rabbit do it to open up the wire fence in the back of the garden to slip through to steal a carrot or two from the old overgrown yard back there."  

"So, when the man comes in here looking all sad and lumpy, and he sits there and breaths for awhile, it's the prana in the air that he's bringing into his body that's refreshing him?  You mean he's actually bringing that power into his body and recharging off it?"  Rabbit asked.

"That's exactly right," Father Tree said tenderly to the wise rabbit.

After a long silence - if you were there you would have heard it - the entire garden took a deep breathe and held it for ......one....two ....three, and then slowly exhaled all together.

And, if you were there, you would agree that it seemed like lotus' fragrance was just a bit more lovely than usual and that lily stood at least an inch taller.  

Then, as almost every afternoon after the man left, a gentle humm seemed to flow in the air, and then soon after, they all felt the breeze again. Chipmunk danced his way back to his mother and brothers and sisters and rabbit slipped through the fence for his afternoon supper. And everything almost went back to normal.  Almost. The only difference now is the prana that was always there, always for trillions and trillions of years, had made herself known.  And now, with each breath, a little tiny hum of worship flowed into their little bodies and the garden became just a little bit brighter, a little bit more radiant and a lot more alive.