Oh what sweet gems our Wise Women circle uncovered on Friday…
After our opening meditation and readings (which are captured below), Nadine shared a message that she heard recently at a talk by Yarrow Willard (son of Terry Willard). Yarrow said that ”all the hard work is done by being conceived and born, so life as we know it is really the bonus level.”
Glenda added to this by contributing that, ”scientists have recently estimated that the odds of me being born as me (and you being born as you) are one in 400 billion!”
As we were all busy wrapping our heads (and hearts) around these jaw dropping realizations, Melanie was receiving the lyrics to a song which she graciously shared with us, and which we later sang together in our closing circle! Such a beautiful closing to our four week journey together at St. Stephen’s Church.
Who am I, that the lord of all the earth
Would care to know my name
Would care to feel my hurt?
Who am I, that the bright and morning star
Would choose to light the way
For my ever wandering heart?
Not because of who I am
But because of what you've done
Not because of what I've done
But because of who you are
I am a flower quickly fading
Here today and gone tomorrow
A wave tossed in the ocean
A vapor in the wind
Still you hear me when I'm calling
Lord, you catch me when I'm falling
And you've told me who I am
I am yours
Who am I, that the eyes that see my sin
Would look on me with love
And watch me rise again?
Who am I, that the voice that calmed the sea
Would call out through the rain
And calm the storm in me?
Not because of who I am
But because of what you've done
Not because of what I've done
But because of who you are
- Casting Crowns
Wise Women will I ever cease to be amazed by the magic of what transpires when we gather? Nope, I don’t think I will. The theme of yesterday’s gathering was ONENESS WITH LIFE. My desire was to dive deep into the essence of the Ho’oponopono prayer which is the realization that everything that exists in this world also exists in me. The combination of the readings, the circle sharing, the movements and the singing was a beautiful way to really feel into the depths of this truth..
Who am I?
I am a MIRACLE.
YOU are too.
A Prayer by Don Miguel Ruiz..
Please take a moment to close your eyes, open your heart, and feel all the love that comes from your heart.
I want you to join with my words in your mind and in your heart, to feel a very strong connection of love. Together, we are going to do a very special prayer to experience a communion with our Creator.
Focus your attention on your lungs, as if only your lungs exist. Feel the pleasure when your lungs expand to fulfill the biggest need of the human body - to breathe.
Take a deep breath and feel the air as it fills your lungs. Feel how the air is nothing but love. Notice the connection between the air and the lungs, a connection of love. Expand your lungs with air until your body has the need to expel that air. And then exhale, and feel the pleasure again. Because when we fulfill any need of the human body, it gives us pleasure. To breathe gives us much pleasure. Just to breathe is enough for us to always be happy, to enjoy life. Just to be alive is enough. Feel the pleasure to be alive, the pleasure of the feeling of love…
The Story of Dr. Ihaleakala Hew Len
“Ho’oponopono may be the most effective method of solving problems and conflicts ever devised by a culture. It became known mainly through Dr. Ihaleakala Hew Len and the record of his work in healing some psychologically ill prisoners. This achievement is considered a therapeutic miracle, and demonstrates the effectiveness of Ho’oponopono. Moreover, it is an acknowledged therapy in the USA.
In 1983 a trusted friend asked Dr. Hew Len to work in the psychiatric department of the state prison of Kaneohe of Hawaii. Thirty prisoners, all psychologically ill, were confined there, with a chronic shortage of staff. There was good reason for this shortage because both the institution and the work were commonly described as ‘the hell’. Most of the employees were either ill, unsuited for the work or gave in their notice as soon as possible after beginning employment. However, Dr. Ihaleakala Hew Len agreed to work there - on condition that he was allowed to use a method that he had just learnt. It was arranged that he would only read the prisoners’ reports and would not talk with them.
What did Dr. Hew Len do? In the following four years he read the prisoners’ reports several times daily and asked himself, ‘What is there in me of darkness and negativity, of power and hatefulness, that something similar should exist in my world? What is my part in it that my brother has done such a thing? When he found something of that in himself and in his heart (power, aggression, hatred, vengefulness, envy, jealousy - the whole palette of the depths of humanity), he would say:
I am sorry. Please forgive me.
I love you. Thank you.
Dr. Ihaleakala Hew Len worked exclusively on the cleansing of his heart and consciousness and after one and a half years he had made a Ho’oponopono and changed the mold, atmosphere and climate in the prison hospital. After 18 months, none of the prisoners wore handcuffs anymore. The staff, warden and therapists now came happily to work and the illness figures declined. It became possible to hold therapeutic conversations with the prisoners, and after four years all the inmates, except for two, were cured. The institution was finally closed.
Did Dr. Ihaleakalal Hew Len really cure anyone? Those impacted, say ‘Yes’. However, in an interview Dr. Ihaleakalal Hew Len has explained that he only worked on his own purification and the deleting of information in his own subconscious. He did not speak of cures, but emphasized that the solution to respective conflicts succeeded because he had taken 100% responsibility for the existence of prisoners in his life. ”
Oneness With Life
“Underneath the surface appearance, everything is not only connected with everything else, but also with the Source of all Life out of which it came. Even a stone, and more easily a flower or a bird, could show you the way back to God, to the Source, to yourself. When you look at it or hold it and let it be without imposing a word or mental label on it, a sense of awe, of wonder, arises within you. Its essence silently communicates itself to you and reflects your own essence back to you.
If peace is really what you want, then you will choose peace. If peace mattered to you more than anything else and if you truly knew yourself to be spirit rather than a little me, you would remain nonreactive and absolutely alert when confronted with challenging people or situations. You would immediately accept the situation and thus become one with it rather than separate yourself from it. Then out of your alertness would come a response. Who you are (consciousness), not who you think you are (a small me), would be responding. It would be powerful and effective and would make no person or situation into an enemy.
There are three words that convey the secret of the art of living, the secret of all success and happiness: ONE WITH LIFE. Being one with life is being one with the Now. You then realize that you don’t live your life, but life lives you. Life is the dancer, and you are the dance. ”