In response to my blog last week, one of our readers sent me this quote:
“In his book The Heart of the Hunter, Laurens van der Post tells his story of living in the Kalahari Desert with the bushmen of South Africa. It became obvious to van der Post that these primitive peoples knew intimately the presence of wisdom in every blade of grass and in every heartbeat. The bushmen had a mysterious kind of inner knowing. They knew when the 
enemy was approaching and danger was near, they knew when to move their camps, and when and where the rains would come. They knew where to go for the hunting that would sustain their lives. When questioned about this mysterious inner knowledge, they spoke of what they called the ‘tapping of the heart.’
From an early age they had been commanded to heed this tapping. When they felt it coming, they were to become very quiet inside and to listen vigilantly to the tapping. It was like a sixth sense, an unexplainable knowing. Reflecting on the uncomplicated lives of these ancient peoples I have come to believe that this mysterious knowing in them was nothing less than the wisdom of God.”
Oh…to mature within a community, a family group, that commands one to listen to such inner wisdom! How different from much of my training!
In the next few weeks most of us will begin to emerge from different levels of social isolation. One of my desires is to listen to the ‘tapping of my heart’ as I emerge. What is life-giving? How is Spirit directing me? Will I have the courage to listen? Will I have the courage to act on what I hear?
It’s so easy for me to call the bushmen ‘primitive’, but my sophistication can be an obstacle to spiritual intimacy. May it not be so. May I, may all of us, wait on God. Sit quietly. Even within our activities to be quiet and to keep listening to the tapping, to the whisper, to the words of loving guidance. To wait and to trust.
Be safe, be well, and emerge wisely
Anne
Mystic in Motion
Companion on the Way with Contemplative Fire
Contemplative Fire Canada, Founder
We’re all living with social distance and physical distance these days. Have you ever heard of ‘listening distance’? What will allow me to listen to someone, to something, to listen well and absorb what I hear.
May we all be gentle with ourselves and those around us this week.
How about a completely different perspective? Who I am, is a Child of God. My life is not defined by activities, responsibilities, or roles. I am not the body, nor am I the role that it fills in the world. My life is eternal. I am a Child of God, born of God, an inheritor of God’s kingdom, the peaceable kingdom. Yes, I am alive on earth in this body and known as Anne by those around me, but who I am is within my soul. I am a Child of God, a spiritual being having a human experience.
more clearly as simply my soul life. I am a Child of God, known by God, loved by God. I am not my body, not my role, not my hobbies. Yes, I have all those pieces of my life, I ordered groceries to be delivered today and planned our meals, but what is real, what I will take with me when I leave this life, is my eternal nature. Born of God, connected with God, seeking to experience more of God.
Wow! Today I looked in my fridge and realized that it has a lot of food in it. More than normal. Then I realized that I’ve been baking and looking for sweets.
go find my mother. She kept a box of cookies in a cupboard near my room. We’d sit down together, I’d tell her my nightmare and she’d give me a cookie….or two. Later we had a habit that she would simply leave me a cookie by my bed so when I woke scared during the night I could immediately reach for a cookie. As the years moved on I satisfied lots of fears and insecurities with cookies, chocolate bars, ice cream, bread … and did I mention cheese?
What an intriguing journey to be a human being. There is always something new to learn. I’m humbled with the awareness of power of unconscious currents in my life.
Does it feel to you like we’ve been invaded by an alien being from outer space? Our world has been shaken upside down in the last few weeks as the coronavirus, it’s containment and fear has spread around the globe. I know there are always lessons to be learnt from life, so I’ve begun to consider the lessons from this invasion. It’s still early days so I’m sure lessons will evolve, but here are a few I’m considering.
Let us continue to cultivate faith, compassion and generosity within ourselves and towards each other as we move through these unprecedented times.
get away. I knew it was time to be quiet and listen deeply to God’s Spirit within me. I had to do some deep listening before I could do any writing. The Rubik’s cube within my soul twisted into shape that day. It felt SO right. I booked a week away at Rivendell’s Hermitage. Maybe I’d have a few days of listening and then write, or maybe I’d simply have a few days of listening, of being open to God and in God’s Presence. Either way, I knew I needed solitude.
A part of me is concerned about so many people entering self-isolation without knowing how to do it. We’re created to be social creatures and to separate ourselves can cause inner turmoil. I wonder how we will respond to so much solitude, especially untended solitude. Not only am I an introvert, I have spent, over the years, many weeks in solitude and know how to care for myself as I open to God’s Spirit. Sometimes it’s very challenging to be alone, while other times it is full and nourishing.
as ‘isolation’ or as ‘solitude’? I think those are two very different approaches. If you are required to separate yourself from loved ones for two weeks or more, I hope you can find within it time for reading, reflection, prayer and meditation. Perhaps, rather than fighting the separation, it could be an opportunity to deepen your life, so when you emerge, there will be more of you that will emerge.
bet the view is wonderful here!” Despite the cloud, she could imagine what we most often see. How wonderful it is to be able to see beyond the cloud.
First, I acknowledge the cloud, not running from it but rather opening to the fear, worry, doubt, exhaustion, loneliness or whatever is assailing me. I say “Hello” to it. Second, after saying “I see you”, I remind myself that there is more to life. There are trees and water beyond the cloud. In humility I ask ‘The-God-I-Can’t See’ for help. I recall some time of connection, of goodness in my life. I recall a spiritual memory when I did know God’s presence with me. Often, I write both down, acknowledging the cloud and then going more deeply into a memory of a positive time. Third, I think of someone else. Is there someone I could help today? If I’m alone, I might find someone to hold in the loving presence of God. Even if I can’t see God, I know that God’s reality and healing presence is NOT dependent on my cognitive or emotional awareness. The trees are always there! Fourth, I find some mature friend and speak to them about my cloud. I ask them just to listen deeply to me. These four steps can be repeated – as often as needed.
question I’m pondering or an issue I’m mulling over and open the door to wondering about it. To wonder is to take the question and then turn it around, look at it from all sorts of sides, from underneath, overhead and inside it. See the question from other people’s perspective. What would….(and you insert a friend, a spouse, a colleague, a neutral person, a hostile person)….think about it. What would God’s Eternal View be of it? Wonder opens the door to the unexpected, to those amazing ‘Ah ah moments’, the spontaneous knowing and maybe a few surprises.
well as know that each step unfolds at a time. Step by step. Step by beautiful step. Each step leads towards healing and wholeness for that is The Way of Love.
are suspicious of something new. Each interaction shows me what The Way of Love looks like in action. Each meeting, if the person is open, leads to healing and wholeness. Yet not everyone is receptive for some simply don’t want what he offers. He doesn’t push or insist on his way. He releases them. Each encounter unfolds a bit more of the pathway of The Way of Love.
Love?’
Mystic in Motion 