Sunday, December 26, 2010

We've got snow we've got snow we've got snow!!!

photo by Di Rose
Hooray! Snow! Finally I'll get to gaze upon the rosehips surrounded by a blanket of white.  We'll haul out the sled and head over to the tobogganing hill, get really exhausted and head home for hot cocoa.  I look forward to these days all year, and we hardly get much snow, so I do a lot, a lot of waiting.  When the city world turns white, we are blessed with a fresh spirit, one of surprise, delight and joy.  One of my family's favorite things to do when is gets cold, but particularly when it snows, is to make pinecone treats for our squirrely friends.  Take a pinecone and with a knife spread it thickly with softened natural peanut butter.  Then pour out about 1/4 cup of birdseed onto a piece of waxed paper.  Roll the whole thing in the birdseed and then wrap the waxed paper gently around it.  Place in the refrigerator for about 20 minutes to harden the peanut butter.  Then place them outside where the squirrels can find them.  Keep your eye on them if you want to watch the squirrels' rapture when they discover them!
Photo by Steppinontoes

Friday, December 17, 2010

The universe within




We each have a vast universe within us.  Our potential is infinite, mysterious, magical.  I believe many of us somehow lost our capacity to fathom this once we were born.  We think of ourselves as bodies, with organs inside (just like the diagrams in the science books).  If we are somewhat fortunate we can just grasp the notion that we are a spirit as well, which is bigger than our bodies, and a soul which runs deep, and out and together.  But.  There is also a space of the infinite inside of us, as well as outside.  Some night, when you can see the stars, go out and gaze deep into them, then see yourself expanding past those stars, traveling out, out and beyond.  Where does it end? It's tough to wrap the mind around, right?  But then, take that image, vision, and flip it, like an inside-out doll.  Now see a deep well within you opening up to the very same vastness of infinity.  This is our potential.

When I was a little girl, I remember following the moon as we drove home in the car at night.  I'd imagine myself, in a car, on a little Earth buoyant in the deep sea of space and try to imagine where that space stopped.  It would blow my mind.  This little exercise certainly made the ride home go faster!  It has only occurred to me as a grownup that this mind blowing vastness exists within, and it is in this space where all of our creativity, our power, our unique and precious connection with the Divine lives.

Recently my son asked me about the act of blessing.  We all have the power to bless.  We bless each other, our food, the Earth, our animal friends and our homes each time we dip into the Divine within our own infinite space within and send it out.  Imagine what we can accomplish in the world with this act!

I wish I could now write a formula for tapping into this.  I believe we all arrive there in our own unique and beautiful ways.   But for now I'll just leave you with those thoughts to gently rock in your arms.

Blessed Be