Community Sharing: The Art of Un-Doing

From Jim B.

“A few things struck me after I read your post:

1) YES, we need “enduring vacations”–I try to have a “mini vacation” every day–some call it prayer, some meditation, some relaxation, some un-doing, whatever the name, we all need some thread of “enduring vacation” that connects our days in loving ways.

2) the phrase “stop running around headless” reminded me of Richard Lang’s insights on the “headless way”, a very different kind of being “headless”, one that opens us to expansive, boundless awareness, open to all life, much like you write of being open to experiencing nature in her many forms and forces.

3) i LOVE the idea of “little centers of love,” reminding me of Christopher Alexander’s design notions that emphasize “centers” of light (and love!).

4) finally, i’m reminded of a small note that an Ursuline Sister wrote me as a young adult over 40 years ago, during Advent, she spoke of finding a “way into the center of our being and doing…and may the birthing that wants to happen in us find us ready”–thank you Clare Morris for your words ring true for me now as they did then… peace and love to all”

From Alice M.

“How I wish we could look into the pandemic mirror….and see ourselves there. This Corona Time is a Kairos moment, a visitation, an invitation to deepen our relationship with ourselves, God, nature and others. There is more going on than meets the eye in this current pandemic. This virus is REAL. The scope and effect of this disease on the globe is unprecedented. People are suffering on many levels and dying. This is causing widespread fear and panic. At the same time the invisible, spiritual reality, that underlies the pandemic, is equally REAL. They are two sides of the same coin. We look through what is on the surface to the hidden spiritual message calling us to wake up to our connectedness and our Divinity because we have strayed far from our calling as the Beloved of God. This virus is not “out there” somewhere. WE are the virus on the Earth at this time. Humanity, the “crown” (Corona) of creation…the protector and “steward” of our sacred Earth, the one through whom heaven and earth come together, has become a parasite infecting everything with the illusion of separateness, fear, and scarcity.

What has gone viral in the human family today is the “illusion of separation.” Like Moses holding up the poisonous serpent that was killing the Israelites so are we witnessing in the mirror of this pandemic our own poisonous souls in the hopes we will wake up and change. We are seeing in all this suffering and death not just what we have been doing to animals and nature but what we have been doing to ourselves in all the polluting and consuming and poisoning of the Earth.

We have slowly lost over time our genetic connectedness to the Whole and feel threatened by a worldview of scarcity, living in the fear that there is not enough, that we are in control, and that we need to protect our own survival. We have turned on the “host,” the source of our life here, draining Mother Earth’s resources until the Earth herself is becoming unsustainable and is literally dying. Our Mother is dying.

Of course the Earth doesn’t need us and can easily birth a new species more worthy and grateful of her. Out of what I call Fierce Love, she is putting an end to this abuse by allowing us to take responsibility for the choices we have made and continue to make. It wasn’t enough that millions of animals and wildlife died in the fires in Australia due to Climate Change created by us, but then the desecration of what is sacred in nature manifested most disturbingly in the wet markets in Wuhan, China. This became the “last straw” at which Mother Earth said “No More.” She held up the mirror of our own darkness so that we might look on it and be healed. Like Moses holding up the poisonous serpent that was killing the Israelites so are we witnessing our own poisonous souls in the hopes we will wake up and change. We are seeing in all this suffering and death not just what we have been doing to animals and nature but what we have been doing to ourselves in all the polluting and consuming and poisoning of the Earth. We are all connected. What happens to one part happens in some way to the Whole. We are one Body.”
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From Joe M.

“Beautiful renewal awarenesses only a stillness immersed in nature can bring. And very joining with others similarly centered. Said Shakespeare, “One touch of nature makes the whole world kin.” Taken a measure deeper, or an octave higher, one touch of Spirit makes the whole world one in Itself. Many will experience the bard’s poignant words. Relatively few will experience those of the Christ, restated in modern mythological terms: “I am no Jedi, but I know the Force. It moves through and surrounds every living thing. Close your eyes . . . feel it . . . the light . . . its always been there . . . it will guide you” (Maz Kanata, Star Wars).”