Prayer Circle and Honoring our Relatives
As I was out in the wilderness today walking with Duke and playing fetch, something stirred deep inside me. I see the mountain every day, but today she felt different. There was a glow around her, a kind of majesty, as if the heavens had opened above her. I felt something familiar calling to me, something ancient and meaningful, and I found myself gazing at her through my peripheral vision. The moment I did, it awakened that same feeling I used to experience so often in Hawaii — that sense of invitation into another world, as if the veil became thin and I could step beyond what the eyes normally see. As I stood there merging with that feeling in my body, the image of the woman resting within the mountain became clear to me. I had always known she was there, but today it was as though I was seeing her for the very first time. Then something began to rise within me — a memory, a feeling, a vision of my grandmother’s backyard. When I was a little boy, I loved going to Grandma’s house. There were trees to climb, fruit to pick fresh from the vine, and a feeling of safety and wonder all around me. It was my Eden. In that moment, I could feel my grandmother and her love already alive within me, illuminating me from the inside out. I found myself thinking that in a perfect world, with true teachers to guide the way, we could help those who long for this kind of connection remember that it is real and possible. When I returned home, I entered meditation and, with the help of my allies in the spirit world, I created the Perfect World Meditation. This meditation was a test for me, it was challenging to say the least to see the world as perfect. Even in myself I had doubts about visualizing such a vision. I did anyway, and what came from it was my allies standing infront of me asking me to invite all who feel abandoned, lost, still grieving, from ones who left this earth. As we feel the distance when someone dies over time, their memories can sometimes feel stale or so distant it's hard to think of past memories of our love for them. This Tuesday, I will be inviting you all to join me in a journey to revisit our relatives and rekindle the flame of connection.