Dear Wise Women,
It was so suiting for us to end our eight week session together through an inquiry into the mystery of Grace. Thank-you for your profound contributions and your open hearts! I look forward to continuing our circle with so many of you on November 19th. đź’«
xo
Patti
WEAVING THREADS…
BEGINNING WITH A CHRISTIAN PERSPECTIVE
(at first glance this passage does not seem to be about grace at all…but I chose it because I wonder if the ever flowing and infinite energetic exchange of life might just be at the core of what is known as God’s Grace?)
“If a rational Creator started this whole thing, then there has to be a “DNA connection,” as it were, between the One who creates and what is created. One of the many wonderful things that scientists are discovering as they compare their observations through microscopes with those through telescopes is that the pattern of the neutrons, protons, and electrons in atoms is similar to the pattern of planets, stars, and galaxies: both are in orbit around one another, and all appears to be in relationship to everything else. We now know the same is true in biology, as Robert Lanza’s work on biocentrism so brilliantly demonstrates: “the universe is created by life and not the other way around.” [1] Our word for that foundational life is Spirit, hovering like a brood hen over the formless void in the very first lines of the Bible (Genesis 1:1-2).
The energy in the universe is not in the planets, nor in the atomic particles, but very surprisingly in the relationship between them. It’s not in the cells of organisms but in the way the cells feed and give feedback to one another through semi-permeable membranes. The energy is not in any precise definition or in the partly arbitrary names of the three persons of the Trinity as much as in the relationship between the Three! This is where all the power for infinite renewal is at work:
The loving relationship between them.
The infinite love between them.
The dance itself.
In other words, it is an entirely relational universe. If, at any time, we try to stop this flow moving through us, with us, and in us, we fall into the true state of sin—and it is truly a state more than a momentary behavior. It is telling that the first destabilization of the foundational structure of the atom (in New Mexico in July 1945) created the atomic bomb. With supreme irony, the test site is still called “Trinity” as Robert Oppenheimer first named it.
The divine flow either flows both in and out, or it is not flowing at all. The “trap doors” at either end must be kept open in order to both receive and let go, which is the work of all true spirituality. The Law of Flow is simple, and Jesus states it in many formulations such as “Happy are the merciful; they shall have mercy shown to them” (Matthew 5:7). Or as we cleverly put it “What goes around comes around.” We are conduits.
Gateway to Silence:
Love flows in and out, in and out.”
GRACE AND GRATITUDE
“Grace is always present. You imagine it is somewhere high in the sky, far away, and has to descend. It is really inside you, in your Heart. Grace is the Self. . . .You are never out of its operation.
—Sri Ramana Maharshi
Whether life appears to bring tears or laughter, it is all grace. Grace fills the world, but only a heart awakened to Love will taste its depths. In awakening we understand that grace is always present. There is a basic trust in life’s movement and its goodness. We realize that whatever is here in the moment is a gift, if we can receive it as such. Whatever is here expresses life’s wholeness and can be an invitation back to its Source. Awakening allows us to freely appreciate the gifts of impermanence and continual flow, no longer bound by the suffering that comes from perpetually wanting “more,” different, or unending experiences.
When we realize the movement of grace in our lives, the natural response of the heart is gratitude. Gratitude is not simply being thankful for things we deem beneficial or pleasurable. It is really a way of living and an expression of the peace we discover that is right here in all circumstances.
We may find that:
It is not happiness that makes us grateful, but gratefulness that makes us happy. —Brother David Steindl-Rast”
“In the morning when you wake up, you reflect on the day ahead and aspire to use it to keep a wide-open heart and mind. At the end of the day, before going to sleep, you think over what you have done. If you fulfilled your aspiration, even once, rejoice in that. If you went against your aspiration, rejoice that you are able to see what you did and are no longer living in ignorance. This way you will be inspired to go forward with increasing clarity, confidence, and compassion in the days that follow.”
