When I created this blog, I did so with the intention of inviting people on a journey with me into the Great Mystery. To truly love we must visit that place that has no bounds whenever possible.
Since that journey is never totally linear, we are in the dimension of spirit. All things are changing and ever possible; we just have to surrender to it in a way that rankles those of us who don’t want to feel like we’re not in control. But then it happens — and we are free.
Mystery and uncertainty can be scary — just think of how much we have been through with the pandemic and an endemic presidency alone. It is also an opportunity to summon deep faith.
The unknown is uncomfortable. It can feel like a suit that’s too tight, or too big. At times we might want to rip it off — but something is better than nothing. When we are naked with each other in our vulnerabilities, it can be difficult to give each other the space that is necessary to come back.
We need to experience spirit in those moments. We need to allow the Great Mystery of all that is to wrap itself around us in a way that feels just right. Spirit doesn’t make the suit smaller or bigger — but it can help us to be okay with however it fits at any time, knowing it can always change.
Buddhists call this acceptance. Taoism calls it “the way.” Spiritual teacher and leader, Eckert Tolle, says, “Accept — then act. Whatever the present moment contains, accept it as if you had chosen it. Always work with it, not against it … This will miraculously transform your whole life.”
Easier said than done.
If you are like me, you do your best, which often doesn’t feel like enough … for yourself or others. When I feel that way, it typically means I am resisting someone or something.
I may be resisting someone else beliefs or behaviors because they don’t match mine. I may be resisting something I cannot control … like the swearing in of a supreme court justice who threatens everything I stand for, or the outcome of an election with so much in the balance.
We resist a lot in life. Aging — in ourselves or others. Rules and restrictions — our own or those imposed by someone else. All hypocrisy — no matter where it originates.
We resist other people’s religion or politics. Even when it seems like the right thing to do, resistance almost always stops the flow of what is good.
When I am in the flow, I don’t have to agree with a person’s beliefs or behaviors — but I don’t have to persecute them either. I also don’t have to compromise my own beliefs and behaviors to meet someone else’s approval or expectations.
Acceptance makes it possible, as Rumi says, to meet in the field beyond ideas of wrongdoing and right doing. It makes it possible to for no one to have to win or lose, or to be right or wrong. Acceptance means meeting in the place where there are no bounds … no judgment.
I am in that place — but not often enough. When I’m not, I always turn to gratitude. Gratitude has a way of melting the places where softness is needed even more.
Today I am accepting love by being grateful for the following:
1. The support and connection in my life, which is vast and wide.
2. The possibility for forgiveness whether from or toward me.
3. A deep belief that we are always headed toward something better.
4. I am here for a reason.
5. There is a force within and beyond me that I cannot fully comprehend.
Gratitude makes it possible for the kind of forgiveness that promotes freedom — and it is only through freedom that we reach acceptance.
Nelson Mandela wrote during his 27-year imprisonment: “For to be free is not merely to cast off one’s chains, but to live in a way that respects and enhances the freedom of others.”
Perhaps if we all met in the middle of Rumi’s field, our pockets filled with Nelson Mandela’s wisdom about freedom, the world would become as brilliant as the spark that started it all.
I feel like we’re getting close. No matter what happens on November 3, we have to find our way back to each other.
My hope this week is that we all find our own way to meet in the field. May we all accept love through forgiving ourselves and others.May we accept — and then act.
Love,
G.