LIVING FROM THE LEVEL OF LOVE
Life has a way of grabbing your attention when
you least expect it. When it does, you can be sure it is trying
to tell you something. At least that is how it has always been for
me. You get up in the morning thinking you have your day planned,
and suddenly everything changes. Without even knowing how you got
there, you find yourself on an entirely new path. In looking back
at the many times this has happened in my life, it seems strange
that I ever thought I was in control. Far from it. That's a nice
thought to entertain, but the supposition doesn't even approach
the reality.
Because of this, I've developed a sort of comfort zone with change.
I've learned it's far easier to go with the flow than to fight it
tooth and nail. There is a certain joy in being free enough to let
life take you where it wants you to go.
Of course, such a view doesn't happen all at once, but it is more
than worth the effort, because life is about growth, and that means
we are all "works in progress."
As we become more pliable, our comfort level with the unknown increases
step by little step. Trust becomes a common denominator. You enjoy
life right where you are. You enjoy what is. Every day is precious,
and you're ready to enjoy it to the fullest.
Time is a strange commodity. How often do we say things like, "there
isn't enough time," or "time just flew"? If we're
in a dentist's chair, time drags, but when we're enjoying something,
it seems like it's over in an instant.
Whenever I start feeling a "time crunch," I try to remind
myself that I am part of Nature. If Nature isn't conscious of time,
then why should I feel so rushed? Nature just is. I became keenly
aware of that "is-ness" several years ago when I was visiting
a friend who lives high up on a mountain surrounded by tall, swaying
trees which no doubt have been there many hundreds of years. In
such a serene setting, it seemed ridiculous to think about being
late, or having to hurry to get somewhere. Nature never hurries.
I think about this every time we visit Utah. The stone formations
in that part of the country have been there "forever"
in comparison to our own residence on this earth. How did they find
their shape? What force was it that carved them out? What washed
away the silt and left the towering monoliths that silently reveal,
like pages in a book, age after age that once passed by? It makes
me wonder - who was there to see it happen? Who was there who knew?
What creatures found repose in the shade of those huge formations,
creatures perhaps whose entire species is no longer with us?
That same fate could be true of us, too, someday. That thought has
not escaped my attention, particularly since we are so bent on upsetting
the ecological balance on this jewel of a planet. More than once
this past year I have heard those who know say that if we continue
on our present course, we will destroy the very things that feed
and shelter us. I have to admit, I was not surprised when I also
heard that if we disappeared as a species on this planet, the ecological
balance would be restored within five years, and within ten years,
there would be Eden once again.
Why we have so little regard for our environment is a question we
dare not ignore. Is it because we have so little regard for ourselves?
For each other? The world is not our waste basket, yet that is how
we treat it, more often than not. It is my hope and my prayer that
we are beginning to wake up to the devastation we are imposing on
our planet, and also upon ourselves.
Wisdom does not come overnight. It is born of experience, and oftentimes
that experience includes pain. Perhaps pain is like the wind and
the water that cleared away the debris from those ancient hills,
leaving their strong core for all to see. There is a core in us,
too, that is just as strong, just as timeless, and it, too, will
be found as we clear away the debris that so clutters our mind and
emotions, that so fills our daily lives with that which is less
than worthy of our attention.
Our time here is so short. Nature speaks in eons, where we have
only moments, and yet these moments, too, can be timeless. When
we tap into the streams of love, the fountains of joy that reside
within us, we tap into our eternal depths. Without love and joy,
we become as deserts, dry and barren, but when love and joy break
through our hardened habits, even if there is just a trickle, they
can so transform our spirit that it becomes possible to accept -
and yes, even embrace - the most difficult of challenges, and then
surmount them.
Just as water and wind carve a landscape out of rock and stone,
so do love and joy shape how we meet the day, how we live our life.
When such qualities are present in our life, it is easy to lose
track of time. Pressures do not seem so immediate. We do what needs
to be done, and move on to the next. Life begins to flow, transforming
our struggle, and here and there, around the fringes of our mind,
we see peace on the horizon. For just a moment, we feel the touch
of That which we cannot comprehend, but of which we most surely
are a part.
Moments such as this cause us to wonder - how is it that we came
to be here? To see this? To do this? We may never know the answers,
and yet in my heart I do believe there is a part of us that knows.
It is easy to be overcome by the events of human life, but if we
are faithful to the challenge, we will be given the strength to
climb the mountain of inner spiritual growth so the truth within
us can shine through and guide us through the labyrinth of life.
From such heights we will know, regardless of what is happening,
that a greater purpose is working itself out through us, and that
purpose will not be denied.
Yes, there is more - much more - to life than we know. In finding
that "more," we come full circle back to our Source, back
to the answer we have been seeking. That answer has been waiting
for us all along.
Self-discovery is always an untrodden road. No one has ever traveled
quite this way before. The path of our progression is unique to
each one of us. Your path is there for you, and only you, just as
my path is there for me. You are the only one who can use your path,
for it is the way of your own unfolding.
Always it is love that moves us along our path. Love stretches us
and challenges us so we can learn what we need to learn, so we can
be what we're capable of becoming. When we get to know - and accept
- ourself at every level, we move beyond the shallows of life and
into the sacred depths where love and meaning and purpose are revealed.
When we live from those depths, our healing truly begins.
Every season has its own innate beauty, as does every stage of our
unfolding. Our growth is part of love's plan. We learn and grow
so all may learn and grow. What one gains, we all gain, for we are
as cogs in a wheel. Each is necessary to the success of the other.
After all, we share the same breath, we share the same life force,
and we share the same beautiful planet. Truly, what we do for one
we do for all.
It does not matter whether our part is "large" or "small."
Every part is needed. Every part contributes to the whole. Remember,
small streams go where rivers cannot, so just know there is meaning
and purpose in whatever you are given to do.
Our part is to heed the longing deep within us, trust its wisdom,
and follow the path it puts before us. When you work and live from
the level of love, you never have to worry about the "how"
of things. Always you will be enabled. Always you will be supplied,
for love is both the means and the way. It is both the desire and
the fulfillment. Somehow, knowing that makes all the difference.
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