Sinking into the Divine as my cup runneth over
This year I am feeling a particularly keen sense of gratitude. Gratitude that I made it through this year with my spirit intact; gratitude that my children are healthy and doing well in school; gratitude that my husband has a job where he makes enough money to support our household; gratitude for my clients and the amazing work they’ve done this year, and gratitude for the overwhelming sense of the divine ever present in my life. I feel it everywhere.
I also feel present to the suffering of those around me. So many for whom life’s circumstances have been so heavy and the weight of the load appears to have broken their spirits. Families under stress, people unemployed and the sheer will it takes for some people to get up and keep moving. The stories of heartache are everywhere: in the paper, the news, online, and directly in our neighborhoods: signs of foreclosures and families forced to move because they’ve run out of money, energy, or both. Witnessing the magnitude of so many struggling almost brings me to my knees.
In looking back upon this year, I would not say it’s been my best year, and yet, I hesitate to pass judgment on it yet. Something happened: a transformation occurred, even when it has felt like nothing was happening. I feel different in my skin. I can only describe it as a buzz, an energy that is coursing through me. I didn’t have to leave my home to go on a journey of discovery and transformation: it found me. The details are unimportant- at least in this context- what is important is that I feel different.
Inside of the Syndney Cathedral
I call it the divine. Other world religions call it God, consciousness, presence…. The language and words used may be different, but the experience is the same. It’s a feeling I used to get walking into a sacred space like a large Cathedral with high ceilings and big stained glass windows. As a child I used to love going to the big Cathedral at Christmas time when the choir would sing: their voices ricocheting off walls and the tremor of their vocals lingering even as the song ended. It was a magical experience for me.
Recalling that experience reminds me of how little it took to tap into the divine. All I had to do was believe and allow the magic of the moment to flood my senses. That’s what has happened to me this year, even when it didn’t feel very magical. Something has shifted.
So for this year at this time of thanks- I feel overcome with the need to thank so many people. This year in particular people have come forward and supported me in so many ways. I’m awed and humbled. It is the thing that has kept me going. Having a vision and belief that is bigger than yourself is hard to sustain when the pressures of life start to bear down. That is when having others around you to remind you of who you are -and the impact you make- helps and so to all of you who have done that for me, I say thank you.