Dare We Look Up
Message From the Sky
The light blue backdrop holds
Daylight’s bioluminescent rays dispersing
puffs of lolling white clouds
sending them randomly floating away
resilient to the vicissitudes of human’s actions;
dare we look up and be reminded of Nature’s grace?
Delicate asymmetry, elegance, fluidity in spaciousness
we can learn nature’s lessons:
buoyed a little each day unpredictable, unmeasured, unrestrained
just BEing
Dare we look up?
In numerous ways the above poem that I scripted in 2020 represents a state that I was far from. I still find it amazing that in my imagination that I was able to capture a state of serenity that was really not existing in my life. I came into something through the medium of words that was incredibly beautiful and transparent and I was able to structure the essence of Being, even though the experience was beyond words.
It’s challenging for me to just Be and revel in nature and all that life brings, sometimes all at once. But some days I have to admit I’m better at finding peace in the chaos that seems to be looming in front of us; the peace is the result of periodic rests in creation and silence. Wars, lies, political grand-standing, hurricanes, deaths, loss of friendships, illnesses, and the unfolding of new life are all unpredictable, as much as we want to claim power over them.
The list can appear to be endless, but where should we put our focus? Perhaps looking up in awe is more than a diversion, it can be a way of life, accepting gifts from the divine.
This was how the poem emerged I believe in that I was able to sift through the turmoil and lapse into relaxed states, in spite of juggling many transitions and life-changing choices, some still unfolding. My formula for that kind of handling of life is somewhat faulty as it springs from experience and therefore no set of rules apply across the board. I will admit that my acute sensitivity psychologically, spiritually, and kinesthetically to shifting energies creates a bit of angst at times as I want to fix or prevent what I perceive to be happening. People closer to me recognize a change in my demeanor as I drift into inner mode discerning what to say and what not to say.
I have an advantage perhaps as I spent much of my childhood observing family members and other adults engaged in so much ambiguity and often lack of honesty about what they were experiencing adding to their inability to discuss the paradoxes in their lives. You could say, it was part of my upbringing, and that I was groomed in the fine art of observation. Although, it would be a long time before I turned that observation on myself.
Because of my training in dance, I’m acutely aware kinesthetically and I believe we all have some attunement to a higher level of being. What I call that higher perception varies from person to person, but it is like a homing device, a stream that flows through all faith traditions that brings us back to our truth. Though I’d like to give it away, it can only be acquired through inner work and in some cases inspired guidance from a mentor. And perhaps, the latter is not totally true, as guidance often comes from unexpected places: a homeless person, a person with intellectual or developmental disabilities, an unusual insight, or a small gift.
In a recently published book, Experiencing God: Faith Narratives of Episcopalians to which I contributed an essay I wrote:
On Saturdays when dance classes were longer and rehearsals followed —sunlight penetrated the high-ceiling glass dome of the studio sending rays of bouncing colored crystals onto the floor as if heaven were streaming in—and I suppose it was—because dancing was an incredulously, lofty proposition—beautiful, enchanting and holy. If in the vast universe God was truly everywhere, then I knew that God had to be in me, too. The dance studio was where I consciously encountered the divine and that symbiosis emanated through body language.
With increasing awareness I’ve come to the conclusion that humans are not at the mercy or whim of evil forces, but are co-creators with a benevolent cosmos. This leaves a vast plane of wonderment and joy, if we choose to direct energies toward higher ways of behaving where kindness, generosity, and integrity are the driving forces in our lives. Where loving our neighbor is not a mere collection of words but like a seasonal garden arrayed in a bounty of many different flowers and plants keeps blooming regardless of the season, circumstances, or outer appearances.
Once I grasped that I couldn’t change what was happening around me, but I could establish how I responded to things, I recognized a spaciousness in my life that exceeds words. This has been verified by conversations with close friends. When we look into the eyes of a person, smile, walk in nature, help a friend we are expressing the kind of self-care which is not merely a by-product of healthy living but essential to the well-being of those around us; we are exchanging benevolence. The energetic vibration of what we put out in the universe needs to be higher than what exists around us for transformation to occur. It’s not necessarily something we feel (although I believe some people can ) but it is a state of being. Ah, there’s that word again, “Being.”
Further into the essay I quoted above, I mentioned that:
From the onset, I knew my body was where the Holy Spirit lived (1Cor 6:19). No one told me that, neither did I take for granted that others knew the same of themselves.
And that is what I find awe-inspiring and stimulates my work these days. We have bodies that are filled with spirit, but don’t recognize it, most of time. That lively resonance and dialogue between the body and soul can carry us to great heights or when ignored levels of despair. I’ve had my share of both experiences. When we can do our part in maintaining a higher vibration life changes in amazing and of course, unpredictable ways.
That’s where activities that stir the soul come in. Actions like going to concerts, visiting with friends, working a craft like knitting, walks in nature, and contemplation are important. I’ll be the first to admit that it takes a commitment and practice not attributed to a ‘busyness’ lifestyle to engage in seemingly casual activities—activities that raise your vibration.
Participating in events that stir the soul nourish the spirit and I believe help heal the human organism and the planet. I don’t think it matters where we believe the Infinite Goodness comes from, but that we develop an experiential knowing of something much greater than ourselves governing the universe: and it is good.
In reviewing some notes shared with an artist friend regarding a performance art piece we somehow drifted onto the subject of the places where we meet the Divine. This particular correspondence grew out of a vision of life being a sacred geography, of our bodies serving as a landscape where we experience numerous valleys, he wrote:
When God comes to man, He comes into the valleys. The valley is a place of passion and conception and birth. The valley is a place of possibility, of shade and moving lights - a place of many voices. The valley is not above you, it is around you. The valley does not lead you, it joins you. The valley births you from out of itself, the valley feeds you from that which it is, the valley lends you passion.
And from whatever posture of reverence you might have assumed for prayer, you stand afire ready to climb and dare to look up!
“From the onset, I knew my body was where the Holy Spirit lived (1Cor 6:19). No one told me that, neither did I take for granted that others knew the same of themselves. And that is what I find awe-inspiring and stimulates my work these days.” and I could say the same.