Surrendering to Divine Mystery

I live in Africa part time. While here, I  often visit the market, schools, villages and orphanages in the area. Yesterday, I went to the homeless baby shelter. There were over twenty babies, between three weeks and three years old. Their home is cement with no electricity and smells of urine. There are flies everywhere and the heat is sweltering. Usually between five and ten women go to be with them; to play and read and hold them for a couple of hours.

Sometimes it is hard to know where to focus the little time I have while I am there. Shall I help to clean them, hold them, read to them, feed them or just let them crawl into my lap and rest? One of the older girls who is mentally challenged and as tall as I am, insisted on being carried around and so I carried her as long as I could. I noticed her bleeding and infected toe and tended to this. One of the babies I held had a scab on his cheek and was fevered so he just laid his head on my chest the entire time.

There were three little boys standing in their cribs when I first arrived. They were expressionless and seemed resistant to raising their arms as an indication they wanted to be picked up; as though even hoping might lead to more disappointment than they could bear. After asking them for a few moments, they raised their arms in an expectant gesture. Before I left, they were giggling and laughing as we tickled and teased each other. There was joy and light inside their eyes. Although our time together was brief, they experienced play and connection. They always cry when we leave. I have to remind myself that it is better for them to know touch, care and the bond of physically contact and then to lose it than to not experience it at all. Perhaps they will remember the love and delight mirrored to them from one of us, even though our time with them is so brief.

The smallest infants were barely 5 and 6 pounds and I wonder if they were premature or just malnourished. I was soaking wet when I left from drool, urine and my own body's profuse sweating. We left amidst the toddlers pulling at our clothes crying for more time from us to play with them. 

Mary Magdalene is my mentor, my spiritual guide and my teacher. Today, all I can do is wonder how the Divine Source of all allows for such poverty and deprivation. I do not understand this and aside from losing faith altogether and allowing cynicism and frustration to grow, I choose to trust there is great Mystery in the Physical and Spiritual realms. There is mystery that I do not understand and can not understand for now. I choose to trust that there is a Higher intention beyond the profound need of these small, precious children. I choose to trust there is some greater justice that is, for now, above and beyond my sight. For today, I will claim little insight to the wide mystique of a Holy One's plan and dominion.

There is great mystery in this spiritual life and today, although not comforted much with the belief, it is all I have.

Blessings to all and special blessings to those of us surrendering to the Mystery, 

Sally

Trusting in the Mystery of life and embracing what is unknown to us, opens the door for a deeper and more profound understanding. Today I embrace and honor my own not knowing as an opportunity to be with the mystery of the Divine. 

with our gifts come great responsibility

With every great gift comes great responsibility.

                                                               

   Our bodies and energy systems are created for flow and movement. AS women, we are especially gifted with receptivity; the ability to receive and merge with energies around us. Our openness to these energies around us is a gift and with every gift, there is responsibility. In order to use our sensitivity and receptivity for service, we must learn to channel and hold the energies we want and then to release those energies that do not serve and contribute.

   This discernment and skill come with practice. It begins with noticing energies. Which energy flows and which environments enhance our vitality? Which energy are blocked and which environments deplete our vitality? Where and when do we feel alive and fed with vital energy? Where and when do we experience a pull and depletion of our energy?

   Then, our responsibility is to choose to honor our own energy flow and vitality. We must begin to say "yes" to where our energy is vital and flowing and "no" to where our energy is depleted and lowered. This is difficult for us as women as we have been conditioned to give of ourselves and to care for others without consideration for our own vibrancy within.

   We are daughters, mothers, friends, sisters, teachers, healers and many other roles that require giving our time and energy to others. All of our care-giving may "feel" good and "fulfilling" in some ways, however, we much balance our energy output with energy input and seek to replenish. In this way, we honor the gift of receptivity and energy flow and keep ourselves vital. When this vital energy is intentionally protected and honored, we make the greatest difference to all we know and those we touch.

Ceremony and Ritual...

   In my prayer and meditation time with Mary Magdalene and my guides, there is often whisperings about ceremony, rituals and the seasons of women's lives. I am often reminded, in these Sacred Connections, that ritual and ceremony are essential for women. This is especially true in order to restore balance and replenish our vital energy as we tend to give without allowing for the filling up again. Women require sacred ritual and ceremony.

Here are some examples:   *Hot baths with salts and essential oils

                                          *Creating a Prayer and meditation area

                                          *Time with Nature

                                          *The burning of candles and sage

                                          *Laughter and connection with others

                                          *Whatever nourishes you....

   Our ancestors knew the importance of rituals. They remind us to take time to breathe deeply and connect with our own Holiness Within.

   May you take this time to breathe into those ceremonies and sacred moments, allowing yourself to embrace and receive Sacred Divine presence within.

   Blessings and love, 

   Sally

Each and Every Experience Contains a Blessings...

Today I come to Mary in my prayer and meditation and feel her presence. I am open to her guidance and the ways in which she comes to me and speaks to me. 

"I am with you now. I am a thought and a breathe away. We wait for your invitation. We wait to be called into your heart, your soul and your spirit. We wait for you.

Our message today to you is about blessings. You are a woman open to the blessings of each and every experience.

The blessings through your pain.

The blessings through your anger.

The blessings through your fear.

The blessings through your generosity.

As you continue to trust each and every experience, no matter how dramatic, joy-filled or horror-filled it may seem, you will receive the blessing that accompanies.

Your courage is great in that you are willing to see each experience as a spiritual one. In surrounding yourself with this truth and embracing each experience in this way, you will be filled with spiritual connection and blessings."