WEEK 189
God, what is your guidance for me today? What would you have me be like in the world, today?
Imagine an early summer’s morning,
where the air is calm and still;
where the cool freshness is being warmed by
the bright and rising sun.
Birds are singing their morning song…
and in the near distance there is a mountain rising
high and standing tall as if to honor its creator.
The sky is topaz blue and there are specks of clouds
dancing and gliding across the firmament.
Be like this morning.
Be calm.
Let nothing ruffle you from the peace and
stillness within you.
Let the words you speak be a cooling refreshment
full of warmth and love.
Sing your morning song of joy. Let it be
heard in the tones of your voice and your laughter,
carried by the melody of joy in your heart.
Be in the day as a mountain, rising high in spirit to honor
the one who gave you life…
who brought your soul back to you for another day of living.
Let your soul dance through the day,
gliding on the grace of God’s Holy Spirit.
Be like the blue sky, letting your beauty
be seen in your manner, your welcoming, and
your unconditional love.
Yes, be like this early summer’s morning…
soft and bright
refreshing and warm
Joyful and open…
Beautiful.
As you live this image into the day
you will be a blessing to all you meet…
morning, noon, and night.
.
Evening Reflection
Nature is a phenomenal teacher. The living earth has qualities that we can observe and imitate. We can even be like a tornado or hurricane with our anger and rage. This guidance captures an early summer morning where I live in Boulder, Colorado. Everyone’s summer morning may not be like this, but we all have imaginations; and I too, had to imagine what this kind of morning would feel like in my own body. I was immersed in it, and I did take it on with all of my senses.
To make what is seen and heard and felt become you… is a process of openness and contemplation. It doesn’t take long. It just takes a willingness to go there… to allow images to become imagination… and imagination to become real in the body. When we allow this to happen, nature becomes us, or to say it another way, we become one with nature.
It was fun to live these images taken as a whole. It wasn’t necessary to always think about the specifics, although at times I did. But the specifics tended to blend into a wholeness – a summer’s morning. That image contained all the specifics. The birds singing their morning song was simply my awareness of joy and allowing it to be expressed. I didn’t literally dance or glide, but those specific images allowed me to be lighter in my spirit and not get bogged down in the unfolding dramas of the day. The stillness for me translated into not talking as much, and letting things be what they are. In other words, acceptance. The mountain became a constant awareness of being in the presence of Presence; that is, God within all nature and all life. That awareness itself is an honoring.
These nature guidances don’t come through very often, but when they do, they provide a unique window and opportunity to understand that though we have a common nature as human beings, we are also very connected to our environment, and the natural world can indeed become a part of us and help us to expand our soul and grow deeper spiritually.
