Letting Grace Find Us

Recently I did a bit of a solitary retreat- fasting (from social media, news reports, socializing, food etc.) and taking much more time with my daily practices of prayer, meditation and writing. One of the first things that came up was a question of availability- how available am I to the guidance of Spirit, the movement of the Mystery, the Grace of that which is larger? It's so easy not to be available- to fill our days and our moments with movement, sound, conversation, media. . . with a lot of distractions. What happens when we are not distracted? When we are still and quiet? Can we be quiet when there is noise we can't control? (I ask this as the concrete next to my apartment building is being mechanically pulverized.)

I had just finished reading "Falling Into Grace" by Adyashanti, which no doubt help prompt these ruminations. Grace- unearned blessings that come to us (not always in the form we hope they will)- has to be received. We have to be available to grace. And I realized that that was really what my daily practices were- ways to make myself available to a grace beyond my comprehension.

Karen Davis at Open Door Dreaming takes magnificent photos like this one. I am guessing that going out to the wilder places and being fully present to take these photos is one of the ways in which she makes herself available to grace- and I am grateful. ~Oriah

The Crack Between The Worlds

Oh how I love the liminal seasons, the places inbetween where change is observable, daily, and spectacular. Spring and autumn start today (depending where you are on our tiny blue-green planet.) Here the temperatures have mercifully dropped, and the first leaves are spiralling to the ground. Today, the darkness and the light are equal, a great day to ask ourselves where we are out of balance, where we need more time dreaming in the dark or dancing in the light. So may it be. ~Oriah

Karen Davis at Open Door Dreaming photographs so many spectacular images of dusk and dawn- the daily liminal. I am grateful as her photos always remind me of the crack between the worlds where magic lives.

The Magic of Stillness

Sometimes when I am quiet enough, when I have let all my seeking and trying come to stillness like small children who have played hard all day and now tumble down to the ground around me finding sweet rest,

sometimes in those moments, I feel a spaciousness that is both what I am and that Sacred Mystery which is larger.

In those moments, living with a heart open to all of it, loving myself and each other and the world as we are right now, feels surprisingly possible and magnificently healing. ~Oriah

With gratitude to Karen Davis for this photo from Open Door Dreaming.