This is the fifty-second issue of my free newsletter. Your feedback is most welcome!
(a haiku in four parts)
Water communion:
May you always drink deeply.
Grok it in fullness.
He came a nestling,
Humble and vulnerable,
With beginner’s mind.
A church based on love,
All could learn his miracles—
So freely given.
"Thou art God," he said,
Smiled at the grasshopper, and
Discorporated.
I love the way the Stranger in a Strange Land, the Man from Mars, conveys in modern idiom so many of the messages of Christ—that other brother from another planet, so difficult for us humans to understand. I resonate especially with the concepts of honoring water as sacred, and recognizing that we are of water, "water brothers" (and sisters). What a radical notion, to slow way down and withdraw deep within ourselves, to contemplate on a more profound level that which we do not understand, and not to be in a hurry to make any decision. What a challenge to remember that, during the social whirlwind of holiday activities.
And for me, the most profound of all messages conveyed in this story is that every person, every creature we meet, is an aspect of the divine. "Namaste" is a lot like "Thou art God." Can we see the divine in each aspect of nature? The ice at the edge of the pond, the bright red berries glowing against dark foliage, the squirrels darting among the trees, and even the crazy humans in their cars headed for the shopping mall.
Have a blessed Christmas, and an inspiring Winter Solstice—filled with wonder and gratitude for the Light which renews and returns to sustain us yet again. Let us honor the Sun by making a commitment to use its free flow of energy instead of time-limited and destructive fossil fuels. It’s not just what we can do as individuals, but what we can convince our local governments to do, that can make a big enough difference to give us all hope.
Thou art God.
Cathy Holt
"Out beyond ideas of wrongdoing and rightdoing, there's a field. I'll meet you there. When the soul lies down in that grass, the world is too full to talk about. Ideas, language, even the words 'each other,' have no meaning."
- Rumi
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Thank you.
Of special interest:
Cathy Holt
The Circle of Healing: Deepening Our Connections with Self, Others, and Nature
Talking Birds Press.
To order: (800) 404-9492
Peace with all our relations
