This is our time for our Spirits to be free.

Yesterday, my daughter finished her last day of school. And now our beautiful season of togetherness begins. We love summer and hanging around everyday and just Being — being quiet, being creative, being happy. This is our time for our Spirits to be free. This is my time to be in my finest role – Mama.

So with happiness and anticipation, I am taking my summer leave from my blog and other professional duties while I take time to focus on my family. I hope to come back to this blog and my work life in September having read lots yummy books and indulged my daily writing practice. I look forward to sharing that renewed Spiritual Light with you.

May your summer be filled with Peace, Love, and everything you need to be your Best Self. Blessed Be.

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Photo credit: jamm @ brightheartsinging.wordpress.com

bright heart singing, copyright 2009 – jamm. Creative commons attribution, non-commercial sharing only (translation: feel free to quote me in context or use this entry but please always credit me for my work, thanks.) http://brightheartsinging.wordpress.com

One day I got an unexpected email from my friend, Jerry, asking me to publish his poem. I loved the poem but it was an unusual request to ask to have a poem published on my spiritual blog. Nevertheless, I replied to Jerry and said I would be delighted to publish his poem. He wrote me back, and with embarrassment, explained that he meant to send the email to a publisher and accidentally sent it to me. But he, nevertheless, was thrilled I agreed to publish his poem. A happy accident for us both! And now this seems like the perfect time to share Jerry’s poem with you.

Remembrances

By Jeronimo Miller

The bed quietly murmurs your name
And the room awaits your pen and eye.
The mattress sleeps expectantly for
————— your next curvaceous recline.
The quilt wishes to hold your fragrance,
And the pillow your dreams.

“Ohh, this  is  good  !”

The mantra of the evenings
When the two a-likes
Entwine within their warmth,
And wordlessly
Pass maps
Of the Ways to Heaven.

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Photo credit – jamm @ bright heart singing

bright heart singing, copyright 2009 – jamm. Creative commons attribution, non-commercial sharing only (translation: feel free to quote me in context or use this entry but please always credit me for my work, thanks.) http://brightheartsinging.wordpress.com

Dear blogging friends, I got the sad news a couple of weeks ago that a friend of mine died of illness. I wanted to honour that friendship in my spiritual space — bright heart singing – because this friend brought Light and Laughter into my life and, in doing so, enriched my Spirit.

I opened the email and read:

“our good friend Jerry has passed away.”

What? I simply couldn’t understand the sentence and had re-read it. Jerry died at the age of 70 after struggling with Cancer and other health complications. I stopped reading the email and cried. I didn’t even know he was critically ill. I was shocked by the news. Then I got up and did the laundry — and cried. I just numbly thought to myself, “So this is now my life without Jerry” as I walked through my day. I called my husband and cried. I called my friends who knew Jerry and cried some more.

Moments after reading the email I thought, “Damn! I didn’t even wish him Happy Birthday even though several weeks had past since his birthday.” Jerry had emailed me his new story about his bittersweet experience of turning 70. It was Jerry’s way of saying to us all that he was struggling with the whole turning 70 “scene.”  I kept meaning to call or visit the next time I was in town. I delayed my visit/call/email because I was trying to think of something thoughtful to say — or do — but I just let my life get too busy.

I had a small gift I wanted to give Jerry. I had found the perfect box for him at the Free Store nearly two years ago. The box had pictures of frogs on artistic lily pads with a caption that said “Leap from the ordinary.” There is no description of what used to be in the box, but I knew it would be perfect for Jerry who favoured the frog as a spirit companion and routinely made a point of practicing the “leap from the ordinary.” Somehow I couldn’t decide on what to put IN the box, however, so I delayed giving the gift. The box sat in my house waiting for me to “get it right.” And now I would never have that chance. Oh Jerry, I did not want this awkward lapse on my part to be our final unfinished conversation!

Jerry was the embodiment of a “leap from the ordinary” with his wicked sense of humour and his propensity for dabbling in every manner of adventure and mis-adventure. He was a gifted writer who spun many a humourous yarn. He even turned a trip to a colonics clinic into a hilarious page-turner. Everyone who knew Jerry would agree: he was the ultimate “character.” I loved him and my life was blessed by our few simply visits together.

Jerry — aka “Jeronimo” — was my frog loving, wasp fearing, Oklahoma raised, Haight/Ashbury hippy, Jewish, writer/radio comedy talk show co-host, and Jin Shin Do healer extraordinare — and a very sweet friend. I found Jerry to be so compassionate about my struggles. I think his Kwan Yin like capacity for compassion came from living his life so full that he had literally “been there, done that,” and always could give me insight into my predicament.

I had to get on with my day after reading the sad news that my friend was gone on his Ultimate Adventure. At some point in the day, I stopped crying and did all those things I had to do: sent emails, made dinner, went to rehearsal — all very ordinary things that seemed surreal because it felt like I was breaking a new Jerry-less trail in my life. I step, step, stepped through my “regular, ordinary” day until it was bed time. But I couldn’t sleep at all. Suddenly, at 4:00 AM I remembered that Jerry had left a gift for us all after his passing.

A year ago I had asked Jerry to be the first contributor to my Sound Memories project: a library of audio recordings of loved ones reading their own, or others, work that had a deep and personal meaning for them. I asked Jerry if he would “bless” my project and be the first to donate tracks of his reading of his favourite work. Our session together was absolutely “just right.” I was touched and honoured by the creative use Jerry made of the recording opportunity. And so, at 4:00 AM, years before I thought I would need to gather them up, I went to my computer and located Jerry’s Sound Memories and played each one.

Then I wept –  splashing tears all over my keyboard — because I knew my neglect over Jerry’s birthday was not my last unfinished conversation with my friend. I knew that Jerry and I had already planned our “last conversation” with each other a year earlier. Our new, never-ending conversation involved delivering his Sound Memories to his family and the wider community according to his wishes. At last, now I knew what I would be putting in that “perfect frog box.” I knew I would be making a CD of Jerry’s recordings, placing the CD in the box, and handing this gift to his family and friends at his celebration of life planned one month from now. I knew that we would all want to listen to our dear friend read — out loud — what he found to be personally and spiritually meaningful. I knew, also, that Jerry had found a way to remind us all to make a daily practice of taking a “leap from the ordinary.”

Oy vey, Jerry, my wise-mensch-and-foolish-Frog-Prince friend, I miss you lots already and thank you from the bottom of my heart for your gifts of healing, laughter, and friendship.

Mazal tov, my friend, and may you find many more great stories to write as you take your Giant Leap From the Ordinary!

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Image credits: If you recognize this “frog-and-lily pad image” on my Free-Store-found box, please let me know so I may give proper acknowledgment to the artists and manufacturers of the box.

Sound Memories: if you want to contribute to, or learn more about the Sound Memories project, please send an email to the following address:

(type my address above into your email)

bright heart singing, copyright 2009 – jamm. Creative commons attribution, non-commercial sharing only (translation: feel free to quote me in context or use this entry but please always credit me for my work, thanks.) http://brightheartsinging.wordpress.com

All shall be well
and all shall be well
and all manner of things shall be well.
– Dame Julian of Norwich

My bank manager left a voice message for me today:”Hi, can you call me back — nothing urgent…” I was immediately anxious. Oh, I have a wonderful and friendly bank manager, so I did not have a problem with her “per se.” But she is in charge of our account, and while we have TODAY covered, — like many people — we do not know how many TOMORROWs we can cover. This uncertainty means that any call from our bank manger sets me on anxious alert. I tried to call her back three times today but she was not available. With no chance to resolve the unknown issue with my bank manger today, I will have to find a way to deal with my interior uneasiness and put it to rest before bed — or else forfeit my night’s sleep worrying over the call. Looking around for Spiritual resources to help with my worries, I have recalled the following three blessings in my day today.

My first blessing was that, lately, I have been regularly practicing singing the hymn, It is Well With My Soul written by Horatio Spafford. Repeatedly, I have found this song has been a soothing balm for my own Soul that is sometimes troubled with anxiety.  Horatio Spafford wrote this song in 1873 after he had just suffered multiple grievous losses. Far from a “Polyanna-look-on-the-bright-side” offering, this hymn is a testimony to Mr Spafford’s surrender to his almost unfathomable grief. His Surrender and Faith led him to a Divine Perspective and tremendous consolation where, at first, none seemed possible. If you wish, you can discover the heart-breaking and luminous story behind the creation of this song by watching the following YouTube clip:

My second blessing was that while driving around today, I was listening to the audiobook, Fingerprints of God: The search for the science of Spirituality in which author Barbara Bradley Hagerty quotes spiritual feminist, Dame Julian of Norwich (1342-1416),

All shall be well, and all shall be well, and all manner of things shall be well.

Upon hearing this quote I was spell-bound by how closely the words of Dame Julian and Horation Spafford mirrored each other. After further research, I discovered that in her book,  Sixteen Revelations of Divine Love (the first book ever published in English by a woman), Dame Julian reported hearing her God-the-Mother-and-Father say:

I make all things well, and I can make all things well, and I shall make all things well, and I will make all things well; and you will see for yourself that every kind of thing will be well.

Now, I don’t know about you, but if I could hear Dame Julian’s God say these profoundly soothing words to me, all I would have to say is, “bring it on!” — especially today when I need to re-establish interior peace with my Self.

My third blessing today was a passage I read in, The Good Husband of Zebra Drive by Alexander McCall Smith — one book in a series of gorgeous stories ultimately about how to love and respect Life and the many foibles of humanity. Today I read a passage where two characters part ways after a long and productive working relationship; and during their parting they say to each other Tsamaya sentle (Go Well) and Sala sentle (Stay Well). These are “mere words, of course,” writes Alexander McCall Smith, “but when meant, as now, so powerful.” Go Well and Stay Well — ancient words from another culture which, also, express a message — a wish — that Divine Wellness journeys with each Soul.

Tonight my homework to my Self — homework designed to help me regain my inner peace in time for a restful sleep –  is to contemplate my remarkably similar three “spiritual blessings” all of which converged to help me reflect on this day.  Please wish me contemplative success and a peaceful sleep.

May you Go Well, and Stay Well, and always know “all will be well.” Amen.

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Book credits: (1) Sixteen Revelations of Divine Love by Dame Julian of Norwich; and (2) Fingerprints of God: The search for the science of Spirituality, by Barbara Bradley Hagerty, http://www.amazon.ca/Fingerprints-God-Search-Science-Spirituality/dp/1400112109/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1244158326&sr=1-3 or see her web page: http://barbarabradleyhagerty.com/content/index.asp (3) The Good Husband of Zebra Drive by Alexander McCall Smith. http://www.randomhouse.com/features/mccallsmith/main.php

Quote credits: (1) I found the top most quote by Dame Julian of Norwich on the Speaking of Faith blog authored by Krista Tippet and her staff, http://speakingoffaith.publicradio.org/programs/recovery/particulars.shtml (2) I found the quote about the words that Dame Julian of Norwich (written about in Sixteen Revelations of Divine Love (p. 229)) heard spoken from God on the blog,  authored by Patrick Comerford Dublin of Ireland: http://revpatrickcomerford.blogspot.com/2008/09/all-shall-be-well-and-all-manner-of.html (3) I found the African words for “go well” and “stay well” in The Good Husband of Zebra Drive by Alexander McCall Smith, p. 70

Image credits -  (1) I found the Dame Julian of Norwich portrait on the blog, “Timothoes Proligizes:”  http://timotheosprologizes.blogspot.com/2006_05_01_archive.html ; (2) I found the Dame Julian and cat image from the blog, Parish of Walthamstow: http://parishofwalthamstow.wordpress.com/2008/10/27/prayer-focus-all-shall-be-well-lady-julian-of-norwich/

bright heart singing, copyright 2009 – jamm. Creative commons attribution, non-commercial sharing only (translation: feel free to quote me in context or use this entry but please always credit me for my work, thanks.) http://brightheartsinging.wordpress.com

A friend of God went forth on a pilgrimage, and on the road in the middle of the desert came across a little black ant struggling along. “Ant where are you going?” he asked, in the way some people have of speaking with creatures. “Why, I’m going on a pilgrimage to Mecca, the same as you.” The saint objected, “Why, you’ll never make it. It’s hundreds of miles, and besides you have a broken leg!” “What does it matter” the ant asked him, “as long as I’m on the way?”

– folk story as told by Rabia Terri Harris

Why does the ant in the above story believe that it is enough in life to be on the way even though the chance of her making it to Mecca is very remote? Is this ant a champion of the”glass-is-half-full” type of positive thinking? Or is there something more fundamental than optimism that is at work here?

For me, being on the way means I am focused on what is in my Heart and tending to what is my Life’s-calling-as-I-understand-it-today. Now that I look back, it seems to me it has been a very long time since I have known — even with some small certainty — how my Life will enfold on any given day. Yes, there are possibilities, both good and bad, in each day but the only thing I ever seem to know for sure is that I just don’t know how things will work out.

EXCEPT I have noticed that if I intentionally navigate far away from the “fear traps” (not the legitimate and difficult issues in my life that require my full intelligence and compassion but rather my own and other people’s fear-based messages and paradigms), I have a profound feeling of knowing that I am on the way to my own “Mecca.” Being on the way is not merely an optimistic frame of mind for me, although often Optimism comes along for the ride. Being on the way is a physical and intentional way I dedicate the use of my Heart each morning; that is, the moment I awake, I make an agreement with my Self that I will use my heart to love others and myself and I will not injure my heart by settling for fear-based living.

I remember reading this quote by Einstein which motivated me to make a paradigm shift:

We can’t solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them.

What I heard Einstein saying to me was “if I have a problem with my “thinking head,” then, my solution will not be found in my head. I, therefore, have been experimenting with finding the solution in my “loving heart.” Being on my way, means that rather than try to solve my life’s stresses by cognitively rethinking my thoughts, I choose to physically re-posture my Self: I “launch” myself into a different world or paradigm or dimension where Love — and not Fear — is the matrix that contains and sustains all things. I have noticed that making this “world shift” gets easier with constant practice; and I have also noticed how very, very difficult it is for me to make this shift if I am burdened with endless “woulda-coulda-shoulda” worries or “oh no, what if…” scenarios.

Slowly but surely, I think I am learning what the ant means when she says, “what does it matter so long as I am on the way?” Everyday I practice — with mixed successes and failures. Everyday my Heart learns and grows. Everyday I am on my way.

Today, may the Goddess of Ants and All Life help you along your way. Blessed Be.

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Ant story credit: The ant folk tale was told by Rabia Terri Harris and reprinted in Women of Sufism: A hidden treasure, by Camille Adams Heliminski, p. 161

Quote credit: I found the above Einstein quote on the following web site: http://rescomp.stanford.edu/~cheshire/EinsteinQuotes.html

Photo credit – photos by jamm @ bright heart singing

bright heart singing, copyright 2009 – jamm. Creative commons attribution, non-commercial sharing only (translation: feel free to quote me in context or use this entry but please always credit me for my work, thanks.) http://brightheartsinging.wordpress.com