At times, a child will appear at your door. She will be
cold, scared, anxious, and tired from a long journey of becoming. Her heart may
be broken, rage may be erupting from her body, and she may be confused and
uncertain about who she is and what is being asked of her.
How will you respond when she comes calling?
Will you allow her entry, move toward her with love and
curiosity, and provide a sanctuary for her to fall apart in your arms? Or will
you first demand that her fear convert to joy, her anxiety be healed, her
confusion turn to clarity, and her heart be mended?
Will you take the risk of caring deeply and listen
carefully to the dreams, the stories, the feelings, and the vulnerabilities
which emanate from the little one in front of you?
Or will you admonish her to “get over it,” to urgently
forgive even if she is not ready, quickly “transcend” her heartbreak with
spiritual techniques, or require that she stay unwavering in the present
moment? Demanding that she first surrender the dream of a separate self.
The “other” is always appearing, in both inner and outer
forms. Look carefully and you will see. Externally as the people you are in
relationship with, who provide endless opportunities for you to remember. And
internally as the unmet other of the unlived life. Of the abandoned feelings,
emotions, and somatic material that have been sent away into the forest of the
unconscious, in the hope of protecting you from the full-spectrum nature of the
path of the heart.
The tired, open, and luminous children of love will
continue to appear, not to harm or as an obstacle along the way, but as
alchemical allies of integration and wholeness. By way of feeling, sign,
symbol, and soma, they will do anything to reach you. Before you turn from her
and demand that she be someone other than what she is, open the door and see.
The Way of Rest summer retreat – registration open now
New book – The Path is Everywhere: Uncovering the Jewels Hidden Within You – to be released in April
