An Instrument of Peace

"Lord, make me an instrument of your peace.
Where there is hatred, let me sow love; where there is injury, pardon;
where there is doubt, faith; where there is despair, hope;
where there is darkness, light; where there is sadness, joy;
O Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled as to console;
to be understood as to understand; to be loved as to love.
For it is in giving that we receive; it is in pardoning that we are pardoned; and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life."
~ St. Francis of Assisi

I have just returned from a wonderful trip to Central Lake, Michigan. I spent a week in a cabin on Benway Lake learning to fish but mostly just relaxing and rejuvenating. It was a time of pure rest and soaking in the quiet beauty of nature's creation. It felt as if the air was lighter, as if it were easier to breathe. The water was so clear that you could literally watch the "other world" that takes place underneath the surface. I considered the fact that humans are the only creation that struggles with being present. All of the rest of creation lives Now and always Now. There is no thought for tomorrow or what happened yesterday, only what is happening at this moment. We have so much to learn about the power of living Now, it is the only place where God can be found because it is the only place where real Life is.

I woke up one morning while in Michigan and thought about St. Francis of Assisi. I am inspired by his knowing that we are All One. He knew no separtion between himself and another whether it be another animal or another human being. He only knew of his inseparable unity with All from the greatest to the least. That knowing led him to extend love without conditions or expectations to every living thing... every being that he encountered. The beauty of his soul still touches us so many years after his passing.
As I lay quietly in bed, I thought of St. Francis and said, "Lord, make me an instrument of your peace." and God said, "I Am."

Lover and Love are One

"What Fear should a real lover have of the Path
Since the Eternal Himself is his companion?
What grief could he feel at the soul's departure
When the God of his soul is his closest friend?
He's a traveler; yet, like the moon.
He stays immovable in his own beauty.
How could he wait for the coming of the breeze
Who is himself lighter than any breeze?
Lover and love, my soul, are only one:
Never think that they're two halves.
When love and lover have become one,
Both are at once the Giver and the Gift.
The lover is in search of this fullness;
He is like leather laid out in the maturing sun.
When he goes to the sea in search of the pearl,
He is himself a pearl, a unique, priceless pearl." ~ Rumi

Life is forever moving and changing. Circumstances change and relationships change. Nothing seems to stay the same. And, in fact, it can't stay the same because everything is either expanding and evolving or it is in the process of decay. We often resist change because we fear loss but in reality we cannot lose what is Real.
At times, I am able to rise above the current circumstances of my life and see the Path that I have been on since birth. I see the twists and turns, the apparent obstacles and failures of my life and realize that each and every step has brought me to this place. I have a sense of my Eternal Companion gently guiding the way to this moment. I see that it all has been a journey to Loving Oneness. I am beginning to understand that I have never been alone and learning that we are all connected to the Giver of Life and the gift can be nothing but Love. The losses that we experience are usually our "precious illusions" that we cling to for a sense of control and hope that they will keep us safe from suffering. In reality, it is these very illusions that cause us to suffer needlessly. They prevent us from flowing freely with Life and experiencing the joy of Living.
Today, as I close my eyes and breathe, I will see myself floating gently with the current of what Is. I will trust that the river of Life will continue to guide me into the fullness that I seek and remember that we are all in this river together... all searching to know the reality that we are cherished and connected as One. Knowing this, we will all become the fearless Lovers that we came here to Be.

Vast Peace

"When you are fully present and people around you manifest unconscious behavior, you won't feel the need to react to it, so you don't give it reality. Your peace is so vast and deep that anything that is not peace disappears into it as if it had never existed." ~ Eckhart Tolle

I woke up this morning with a heavy heart. I will bring "presence" to this day and know that "all is as it should be" including where I am at this moment... an awareness that, by grace, "anything that is not peace will disappear as if it had never existed."
Today, I will remember as I breathe that I am taking in the All of Life as I inhale and releasing all fear as I exhale. In other words, I am in the process of learning peace that is vast and deep. A peace that transforms all suffering into joy and all fear into Love.