Journey to Empowerment

by Maria D. Dowd

  In the West, of course, it is so much different. Here the community will hardly ever support individuals who take a step off the cliff. To fall is disgraceful. There is, in fact, a fascination with suffering that is completely disconnected from the idea of growth. People do not see the goodness that grows out of failure. They immediately want to cut their connection with those who fall, and miss the point that the failures of others are also great teachers.

  Knowing some of the rules of grace, for me at least, does not mean living with fewer struggles. I sometimes observe myself as an actress in a movie, and see that there is a part of me that does not really want to change. That is what happened when the elders asked me to leave the village and go to the West to share the ways of my people. I thought, “Wait a minute. I live so happily with everybody here. Why do I have to upset things? What is the point?” I crashed against the huge obstacle of my unwillingness to leave. Although I knew deep inside that it was necessary, I needed the community to push me, and to let me know that I either have to deliver my gifts or perish.

  I wasn’t sent to the West so that the village could be rid of me. In fact, I love the people there so much, and I thrive on their appreciation and the gifts I receive from them. However, it was necessary for me to leave this behind and be reborn in a new place, a place where I didn’t know anybody, where my old world no longer existed for me. I never would have volunteered to do that. It was only the community’s commitment to helping me grow that made it possible for me to leave.

  I have found that, in the West, the search for grace often takes the form of a search for ideals: “Who is ideal? Who is the best? How can I make myself like that person?” When the state of grace is understood as embodying an ideal, it can easily be turned into something distant and inaccessible.

  In a world that has become individualized, fragmented and competitive, grace has become more of a challenge. When I think of how life once was in the village, I see how community once existed in much of the world. People worked together at being in grace. It had nothing to do with being a leader, a hero or a role model. You didn’t need to be the king or the healer. Whether you were the person who led, or gave medicine, or cooked, or hunted, or painted, or whatever—each person had a position within the community where a state of grace could be lived. You can still see remnants of such wisdom in the names people chose for themselves, and which many of us have inherited: Carpenter, Hunter, Miller, Smith, Cook.

  The idea “every man for himself” has a cost attached to it. No one can afford so high a price.

  I think there is a kind of selfishness that is nurtured by the economic system of the West. In Western society, there are so many opportunities for individuals to make big gains at the expense of the rest of the community. People will claim they have the right to do so. There are also certain religious dogmas that cause people to struggle with grace. Whatever religious tradition is dominant will affect the way you live, the way you think, the way you are judged. It’s going to produce an umbrella of beliefs under which you are compelled to live whether you believe or not.

  I have found in my work, for example, that where a certain, narrow kind of Christianity has been instilled, people accept that they have been born evil. This view infiltrates the way people look at each other: “We are all basically evil.” The battle against our nature never ends. This belief automatically limits a person’s abilities to come back into grace. It’s as if one’s wings have been clipped before one can fly. It takes people out of the state of grace in which all babies naturally arrive.

  For some, the dance between what we truly feel and what we have been taught, between our natural purity and narrow-mindedness, becomes a challenge. Perhaps this is one reason why some people have difficulty being with children. Children remind them of how far they have wandered from their natural state of grace, and, perhaps, of the obstacles they carry inside if they are to enter into grace again.

  Look at children when they’re born. They are in a genuine place that exudes laughter, love, freedom and enlightenment. When you are with them, there is a vibration that makes everything peaceful. This is the state of grace where we all want to be—at one with everything, as a mystic might say—where there isn’t separation, where there isn’t confusion, and so forth.

  The state of grace, of course, is not ours to hold on to so tightly. Life happens. We all grow up. Moving from childhood to youth, from youth to adulthood, from adulthood to elderhood—each of these steps involves a kind of fall from which we have to rebuild ourselves.

  Each of us has a stubborn conservative inside that steps out at times to stop us from progressing. You know, when everything seems to be working, why bother with wisdom and all this stuff about growing?

  We are all like children learning to walk: When we fall, we get up, brush off and start over. Every time it requires determination, learning, growing, transformation, flexibility and patience. These meditations suggest that the only way to remain in grace is not by learning to avoid failure, but by learning how to pull ourselves up after we fall.

  Our Spirits Are Inextricably Entwined

  BY MARY-FRANCES WINTERS

  No matter where we have been on our individual journeys on this earth

  Or where we are going, we are One.

  The beauty of our humanness comes from the breadth of our diversity.

  The depth of our individuality and the wholeness and creative synergy comes

  From the bringing together of each individual’s special, God-sent gift.

  The miracle rainbow that symbolizes our differences also shows us that when we are

  Arched together in unison, we make a beautiful and lasting impression.

  When we lift our voices in harmony, the resulting sound of each unique pitch creates

  A melodious effect that no one voice is capable of.

  We must find the loving spirit that dwells deep inside each of us,

  That spirit which compels us to care, to serve, to share,

  Which brings forth agape and provides the capacity for a change of heart.

  We must come to a greater understanding of our connectedness.

  We do not exist outside the universe.

  We do not exist separate from other life forms, from other peoples of the world.

  We must see the wisdom in creating new linkages—the power that emerges

  From combining our energy as we strive to attain our universal vision.

  A vision of respect for all humankind—a vision drawn from our interconnectedness

  And enlightened by the spirit, mind and body.

  The Oneness of All

  BY ELDER EMILY DIANE GUNTER

  From the Epilogue of

  A Rite of Passage to Spiritual Enlightenment

  I learned from the monks of Tibet during my trip to the Himalayan Mountains that “a thousand arms and a thousand eyes of compassion” is an expression of unlimited love to all beings on earth. When you are compassionate to yourself, it is easier to be genuinely compassionate to others—unconditionally.

  When you have not been compassionate to yourself and you show tenderness to others who do not return the compassion, you have an undercurrent of resentment toward them. You’ll have a tendency to blame others. When you feel this way, stop, get quiet and breathe. Continue breathing until you feel compassion and love for yourself.

  To know God, you must go through your own Universal Heart with unconditional love, into the silence of your free will, bringing the loving light into your body. When you come out of this beautiful silence and interact with other human beings, your “thousand arms and thousand eyes of compassion” will be activated.

  In practicing this unlimited love and compassion, each of us will joyfully comfort all those who cross our path. We will also get to know and love God and obtain lasting peace. Be willing to breathe and relax and allow yourself to be compassionately loving to all beings, especially yourself. Anytime you need a spiritual lift, allow any of the followi
ng affirmations to fill your being, so that you may live in the Golden Age of Peace…

  We are courteous, kind and respectful in our verbal and nonverbal dialogues with loved ones.

  Our jobs are carried out in the joy of being of service to others.

  Our homes are sanctuaries of unlimited time and space where we feel the infinity of the universe as eternal, progressive beings.

  Our bodies are filled with the warmth and nourishment of the Holy Breath of Purity.

  We heal ourselves with the sweetness of the loving light of God through our hearts and to all who cross our path.

  Spiritual and intellectual substance fulfills our desire to know the world we live in and all beings in it.

  We desire to know the body we call our own.

  We desire to truly know the soul and the wisdom from whence it came.

  We want to know truth, love and balance in the loving light of God.

  Our compassion gives us a true sense of social sympathy, that we are our brothers’ and sisters’ keepers. The continuity of our world is dependent upon that fact.

  We all seek the comfort of life for all beings, especially the children, who are among many of the poor and helpless.

  Knowledge and education is for all beings, not just an exclusive few.

  We touch every child who comes across our path with love and compassion.

  As you journey on your path to spiritual enlightenment, close your eyes and open your spiritual eye. Feel all situations and people with your compassionate heart, and respond with your highest ego.

  God is One. All of us are in God. God is in all of us. Therefore, we are One. As we grow spiritually in the Golden Age of Peace, acknowledge the Power of One. We can do many great things together as One Spirit. The spirit and comfort of God glues us together through our loving, compassionate hearts. Let us…

  Pray together

  Breathe together

  Sing together

  Dance together

  Applaud together

  Be silent together

  Swim together

  Meditate together

  Heal together

  Love together

  Love can solve all things. Believe. Trust. Heal. Live.

  * * *

  It helps us to grow when we let go of negative energy that we are harboring. Anger and bitterness stunt us and block our vision. A major goal in our lives should be to banish negativity and sweep out the seeds of despair so that we can be fruitful and prosper. I’m mending the fences in my life by…

  * * *

  Opening to Spirit

  BY CAROLINE SHOLA AREWA

  The sky turned from gray to blue and the sun warmed my face. I sat quietly breathing in and Opening to Spirit. I wrote words of thanks in my journal as I recalled the blessings of the past few days in St. Kitts and Nevis, West Indies. I know that what we do not experience positively can only be experienced negatively. Therefore I try to release that which is not going well and focus on the radiance in my life. I had the opportunity to do both as I journeyed in St. Kitts and Nevis. In so doing, the Creator showered forth blessings in abundance.

  There was a wonderful sense of community as sistahs and a few brothas of the Diaspora joined together for the Caribbean retreat. People arrived for different reasons. I came to present a workshop on the healing power of the chakras, called “The Spiritual Woman.” Many other workshops were offered on the same day. Throughout the workshops, the healing voice of Oya, the Yoruba Goddess of Change, could be heard calling in the wind. During the few days we spent together, as the winds of change blew, I witnessed so much healing taking place both within myself and around me. I would like to share the words that found a resting place in my journal on a blessed Tuesday while I sat relaxing in my new friends’ home in Nevis.

  Nevis, 8 May 2001—from my Journal

  I am a traveler. I have traveled. I entered the depths of the ocean in the Great Barrier Reef. I scaled the heights of the Himalayas in Nepal. I sailed the Nile in Egypt. On every continent I have placed my feet and shared my words. I have traveled inside and out. I know the depths of my being and the pain buried there along with my love, beauty and passion. I know the heights of ecstasy, both in the arms of a lover and the stillness of myself. I know the calm of the river and its sensual f low. What I am saying is, I have lived, and many sweet memories have kissed my breast in this past week. This has been a most fulfilling week.

  Never would I choose to travel for a week. No! I would want a year, six months, at least one month. When I received Maria Dowd’s e-mail asking me to present at a workshop on the island of Nevis, I thought, “Okay, I could make it, but only for a week.” Then, I went into the anticipated beauty of these rain forest–rich islands. As sixty others and I Opened to Spirit, time stood still. A portal in the earth opened and allowed us to explore the depths of our being. Together with the sea, air, sand and sun, we played, laughed, cried and healed. Held in the arms of the ocean Yemonja, moved by the winds of Oya, supported by Ile, Goddess of the Land, and overlooked by Ra, God of the Sun. What a week. It was a loving experience, a healing experience, a forgiving experience. A touch of paradise dwelled both within and around us. It was uplifting to see sistahs dance and smile, laugh and sing, embrace, learn, grow and be. A wonder-filled week that stands high as one of the most peaceful and fulfilling weeks in my life. It was so full, so rich, with new friendships made and nurtured. I can even say it was a year, six months, a month, a dream.

  Give thanks and praises for the synergy that is created when we come together throughout the Diaspora and Open to Spirit.

  Healing Images

  BY QUEEN MUTIMA IMANI

  Heal our Relationships with Earth and Community…

  Visualize your community as healthy, whole and vibrant.

  Ask the spirits, the higher powers, to cooperate in healing the community.

  Send loving energy (pink light) and healing energy (green light) to the community at a special time each day.

  Create an altar that represents your love for the community.

  Allow some time and find some space for communion with the earth. In communion, the earth speaks her language of quiet rhythms and you respond with quiet rhythms of appreciation.

  Expand your love of self, family, friends and community to love of all the peoples of the earth who share the journey of life.

  Big Shoes and Pink Halos

  BY MARIA DENISE DOWD

  My grandfather left this world on a breezy autumn day. My mother lost her father, my grandfather, my daughters’ great-grandfather. He was ninety-one. He was a great, honest, God-loving man. He was perfect in my eyes. During his funeral on Monday, I watched and listened to four generations of family and friends rejoice in his glory, as he—Uncle Willie, my grandfather—had tenderly touched so many. My ninety-year-old grandmother continues to carry the family torch. She lives with Alzheimer’s, but not woefully—not in the least bit. As we mourned, her humor amazed and calmed us.

  On Monday, as I watched her emerge from the white limo, aided by her two youngest daughters—my Aunt Carol and my Aunt Jewel—the very first thing I saw was the pink halo that surrounded her head. My aunts had dressed her in a fine black-and-white wool suit and this magnificent black-and-white hat with a magenta-hued brim, and all I could say behind my smile was, “You go, Girl.” I whispered in my Aunt Carol’s ear, “Very good choice of hats.” And she quietly responded, “Yes, it makes a statement.”

  And it did. Queen Mother—my mother’s mother, my grandmother, my daughters’ great-grandmother—had arrived to celebrate her husband’s near century-long life…and she brought along with her the splendor of this brilliant pink halo into the halls of New Creation Church. New Creation.

  Scores of family proceeded behind her and her pink halo. And she was led—in formation—by her white-gloved grandsons and great-grandson. I joined arms with my sisters—my expectant sister-in-law, Kim, and my cousin, April, and I marched in my grandmother’s foots
teps. I held my head high in the cloud of my grandmother’s pink halo—for I am her firstborn granddaughter, my grandfather’s firstborn granddaughter—flanked by my unborn niece, Jordynn Sierra, and my grandparents’ last-born granddaughter, maybe on this day not-so-ironically named the month of my birth. Teary-eyed, I breathed in the synergy and geometry of death and life. New Creation.

  My grandfather’s Spirit lives earnestly in me—his firstborn granddaughter and a very early riser, as he was. I believe that I walk pensively along his near century-old cobbled road of high principles, resource-fulness and thoughtfulness. And, when my day comes, I trust that he’ll greet me with complete pride and joy, even though I never did get the secure civil service job he’d hoped for me.

  His kiss to my cheek will be damp and his plaid flannel shirt will be musky. I’ll meet him in his garden of mile-high collard greens and Swiss chard. And he’ll have a glass of sweet-as-can-be lemonade, made fresh by his strong, loving hands.

  This writing is my morning meditation to my family, friends and colleagues, as I step audaciously into my day—blessed to walk in my grandfather’s big shoes and in the radiance of my grandmother’s pink halo.