It was so good that you exercised your smiler muscles. Keep exercising regularly and they'll get strong again! The photos looked wild. And it did look like everyone was having fun. Your boys are turning into young men...sigh.
I'm glad to be thinking about poverty and abundance. I think that what is true in the world is also true in my soul. If I can make sense of all of my thoughts and feelings, perhaps I will get deeper into my psyche and rewrite some of my beliefs...I know there is enough. I have no doubt. And I think a subsistence lifestyle is perfect for our species. We don't need much. And much of what we believe about abundance and wealth is an illusion. But we cling desperately to that illusion.
I used to do a workshop with groups of people. We gave them a worksheet to help them analyze their lifestyle. At the end of the sheet there was a number. The number represented - if everyone on the planet lived your lifestyle, how many planets worth of resources would we need? It was interesting to watch people's reactions. Some people would turn their paper over and say they would do it at home. Some would nitpick - the details were exactly like their life. We would point out that it was going to be a rough estimate. People were very distressed. Our poverty is bearing the burden of knowing we are using more than our fair share. You mention that people didn't know they were poor before white culture showed them they were poor. I think the reality is that they weren't poor until white culture came looking for their resources and began to force this culture on them. We needed them and their wealth to create our poverty - now we're all poor!
But I don't understand poor in Spirit, and why that would be a good thing.
I was Catholic until I was almost 30. One last arrogant, judgmental priest freed me from that dogma. After a few months I noticed I really missed having a spiritual community. I did what my sociology professor said we never do - I researched religions trying to find the best fit for me. In that process, my ex urged me to explore the Mennonite religion. He thought we might like that. So I went to a few services, because they are one of the recognized peace churches. One was led by a couple who had had a child die. They really identified themselves as the parents who had lost a child, and by the sorrow. They preached that this is a place of suffering and that we would all have our reward after we died. They lost me. (Well, the Biblical focus and the lesser status of women didn't help!) This Earth is glorious. It is so beautiful here, that sometimes my heart can't absorb it all. There is so much pleasure in the smallest of moments, so much joy in being part of it all. This is not our punishment. We are not supposed to suffer. We are supposed to reach out, spend time together, help each other, share, laugh, get covered with colors...I can't imagine the pain of losing a child, and I never want to feel it. And we've talked about the inevitability of feeling pain, which is part of life, and which makes the pleasures more poignant. But this is not our hell. This place is amazing and wonderful. It is a gift to be here.
Then I noticed that my ex wanted us (me and the kids) to be Mennonite, I dropped it. Quakerism was much higher on my list anyway!
Once, a long time ago, when my young'uns were very young, I heard a noise outside in the middle of the night. When I went to look, I saw a mama possum with babies riding on her back. My first thought was, "That's me!" I told a Cherokee friend that I thought oppossum might be my totem, and she laughed and said it had to be true. Who would choose an oppossum? I would - they're ancient.
I like your tree lines...especially the first one: with roots sunk deep into the world of the wild mother where it is nurtured from below. In the dream some of the roots are sunk into me. That makes me the wild mother. I like that...although I forget to be wild sometimes...and here we are cycling again!! I also like being in the inner world and outer world at the same time, kind of fits with it being so real, yet in a dream. The words about ripening and sharing also speak to me, but the trees in the dream were just beginning to grow - but growing quickly.
When you talk about being wood cutters who are pruning ourselves, I also got an image of sanding the wood to a smooth finish. I realize that usually happens after the wood is dead and being used for a decorative purpose, but the idea of a smooth finish is appealing. And sanding away some of the scarred bark might allow our sap to flow more easily.
The spiritualist community is north of where Mom and Dad live...quite a trek. They are open daily from the end of June until Labor Day every year. I got S#3 to go a few years ago...
Are you smiling? Keep practicing! Love you!!
No comments:
Post a Comment