Spirit (3)

FLOWERS

How rich a place where flowers grow by the side of the road.  Where the sun warms you through to your bones.  Where the smiles of the people you meet in the streets reach through to your soul.  It's important to go slowly enough to see as much and feel as much as you possibly can.  It's a kind of love that the world gives generously in return for your noticing what is around you.  Every flower has a spirit of its own and relishes the attention bestowed upon it.  It responds to the open face of the person bending over it to admire its intricate construction and beautiful colors.

FRIENDSHIP

There are certain people who become special to us during our life's time.  Each person possesses their own unique spirit, their soul.  One person becomes a friend to another person when their spirits meet and touch in a special way.  When two Hindus meet, each joins his hands together, bows and says, "Namaste," which means, "I greet the god within you."  How perfectly right to always be conscious of the inner spirit instead of giving emphasis to outward, superficial appearances.  Would that we could all see the god-like spirit within every person whose path crosses ours.  How much more respect we would feel.  And how much awe to truly understand that God is alive (though not necessarily well!) within every one of us. 

When a person offers a gift of friendship, it is a gift of love, a sharing from soul to soul, a bond, a connection.  We meet people for a reason - because they will have some effect on us as we will also have on them.  They may carry a clue that we need to discover; they may offer encouragement, even inadvertently, when it is needed; they ease the loneliness of a too-solitary life.  They share our interests, spark our imaginations, and warm our hearts.  How special then is the gift of friendship.

HARMONY

You are a spirit, a spiritual entity - one that is housed within an earthly body.  Think of the body as a vehicle for the soul.  The soul absorbs and shares and, hopefully, has the opportunity to grow, to develop through what you choose to do with your body.  The soul "goes along for the ride."  It grows through a person's acknowledgement of its existence, as in prayer or meditation.  Knowledge enters through the mind via discussion or reading, satisfaction accrues through creative activities; sensual pleasure through physical contact, the taste of food and drink, the sight of beauty, the sound of music or laughter, the smell of flowers, the security of home.  When there is synchrony - then there is a contentment, a satisfaction, and a joy - because as the spirit and the body develop a working, sharing interaction, so much more of life seems to go smoothly.  Difficulties are less troublesome, problems can be seen in perspective, and each day is an opportunity taken for development.  The body grows healthier, the mind expands through learning, and life itself becomes a creative act on the part of each harmonized individual.

(More to follow.)

Spirit (2)

COLOR

How drab the world would be in black and white.  How rich, the color of every bloom, the green of trees and foliage, the blue of the sky, the reds and oranges of a sunset.  One could walk along a deserted highway, an endless stretch of black pavement bounded by dry, empty fields.  No color, nothing to see.  Not to be chosen.  Better to have a path that meanders through garden and woodland, infused with color and verdant lushness, the air filled with birdsong, the rush of a cascading waterfall, the murmur of a bubbling brook.  Slow down, and the world around you will come into focus.  Leave the barren road and stroll the verdant path.

FLIGHT

("Flight" took three pages in the little book, so I'll insert the other two pictures as I go along.)

The ocean is a special place.  It is foreign to most people.  It lacks the security - the "firmness" of land.  If one were to fly, by oneself, it would be hard to let go, to fall freely through the sky, till one's faith and wings take hold and bear one up.

There is a similar difficulty in letting go when one goes to sea in a small boat.  It is difficult to believe that there is any safety in this strange environment.  One clings, and fights the motion of the boat.  Knuckles whiten, teeth clench, and muscles begin to ache.  Needless to say, you begin to wonder why you have once more agreed to an ocean passage.  You think thoughts of freedom - of being removed from this situation and of being safely on land.

But you seek the wrong freedom.  It would be far more beneficial to wish for a freedom from the fears that are causing you your unhappiness.  It is like letting go when you are ready to jump from an airplane with your parachute.  There is a large element of trust involved.  Trust that you folded your parachute correctly.  That the parachute will open when you pull on the cord.  That you won't be so frightened that you'll freeze and be unable to pull that cord.  But there is also an element of trust beyond the basic mechanics of the situation.  Perhaps you whisper a prayer or rub a lucky rabbit's foot.  Perhaps it is just a matter of taking a few deep breaths and acknowledging your belief in your own inherent abilities.  Whatever, there is something that you must draw or call on to make a successful jump.

One might view a jump as successful in two ways.  The first could be that you left the plane, pulled on the cord at the appropriate time, and executed a safe landing.  But think of why you were up in that plane in the first place.  Was it not because you wished to fly?  To experience the pure joy of "letting go" and falling freely through the air, arms and legs spread from the body, wind rushing by, sun highlighting your bird's-eye-view of the earth below?  Therefore, the jump will be truly successful when you let go of the fear and relish the freedom of this unusual act, the joy and the trust that is there for you to experience.

Different on a sailboat?  Not really.  Though it certainly takes considerably longer for the "jump" (from shore to shore) to be completed, let go of the tension, accept what fear there may be, loosen your hand from where it is clutching some part of the boat, loosen your mind from where it is mentally clutching handholds, and sway with the motion of the sea.  Say a prayer, rub a soggy, salt-sprayed rabbit's foot, or look inward with trust in your own abilities.  Your ability to not only complete the passage, but to do so with a wonder and appreciation for your "unusual" surroundings, a belief in your own safety, and a trust in your inner spirit.  Give it a chance.  You, too, wish to fly.



(More to follow.)

Spirit

These are pages from a book I put together that I call "Spirit."  The stories are told from a spirit guide's point of view.  One of my photographs goes with each of the stories.

HOME

It doesn't matter where you are in the world.  Enjoy each place, as they are interchangeable, because the place where you will live is inside of you.  A sailboat teaches you this lesson.  Wherever you sail, you have your home with you.  But even a boat is superfluous, for your home is within you.  There is no place that is not your home - a room, a boat, a mansion, all of the out-of-doors, the universe, the galaxies.  Every place is your home, and you can expand to fill all of these places - these spaces - without losing any of your essential self.  Your boundaries are secure.  You are secure.  You are connected.  You are in tune with the rhythms of the cosmos.  It is something to aim for - this tunefulness.  Live it like a melody.  Sing it like a chant.  Know it as the basic chords which reverberate through your life - into and out of your soul.  Your God exists at the very center of it all.  Reach out- reach inward - and touch your God.

BIRDS

A bird is the ultimate free spirit.  He can travel on land, on water, or fly through the air.  Let's take the common seagull.  He wanders the sands of the beach, looking at the mundane details of shore life; he floats on ocean swells without a care in the world; and he soars high above the earth for a bird's-eye view.  Humans mimic the gull.  They walk the shores gazind seaward; they take to the waters in small boats; and they soar through the air on hang gliders.  But the true freedom of the gull eludes them, for the gull neither dwells on the past nor worries about the future of his tomorrows.

CLOUDS

Clouds sail by on their way to nowhere, malleable, constantly changing their shapes, sky-borne will-o'-the-wisps.  Losing themselves in sprinkles or downpours, then growing again, taking up moisture, fattening themselves, puffing up with the pride of being.  And always, always, moving onward through their journey - not seeking, not wanting, complete in their very existence.

(More to follow)