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Let Us Give Thanks For The Richness
Of Life That Is Right Here Now
"Don't ask what the world needs. Ask what makes you come alive, and go do it. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive.
~Howard Thurman
It is quite a time. Many people are challenged with the changes in the economy. Many have lost their jobs, their homes, their health, their security, and their relationships. The stress of today is taking a toll on many. Fears are being touched. The state of the world as it is seems to be pushing on us all. Yet, if we can get out of our heads for a moment and into out hearts, which can be the longest journey sometimes, and breathe deeply, we can receive the moment just as it is.
Being vulnerable isn't always easy. To be honest can create an opening where something begins to rise up within that feels loving and kind. We can stop running away from ourselves and open up to more compassion and understanding. This is real work. It isn't easy to look at ourselves. It is much easier to blame it on the outside world- the government, our relationships, our bodies. It is so easy to forget that we can take responsibility in our own lives and choose with our hearts as we listen to our soul's truth.
I like this quote by William Morris, he says, "the reward of labor is life. It is not just about the work we do in the world that brings us to a connection with a sense of self. It is the inner work of looking at and feeling our own emotional pain and finding creative solutions to let go and connect deeply to who we are and what we truly want to do. Our work in the world can lose its meaning when we haven't found what fulfills us within. To move from the inside to the outside can bring more life to the work we are doing. To feel the blessings in the work we are doing can bring more presence and aliveness. "When you make the two one, when you make the inner as outer and the outer as inner-then shall you enter the kingdom." These words from Jesus ring true here.
I am sure you have heard the saying, "when the student is ready, the teacher appears". Each day someone or something teaches me so much about presence. These amazing people with hopeful hearts think they are coming to me for healing. I bow to the struggles and the challenges I witness of this daily world and I watch how Spirit moves through the connection of each moment. Each one brings me the teachings of the heart. I am humbled by the gifts I receive daily by connecting with these soul's who have been guided to come to my shore and trust their moments with me, to intimately share their hopes, dreams, pain and struggles. These brave souls who's earthy life has brought them to their knees, starving for truth, have allowed their vulnerabilities to open them so that something greater can lead them into more living. Seeing that our own experience of truth is our richest food can bring us to more authenticity.
One day about 7 months ago I received a call from Dave Guymon. He was very clear with his words. He wanted to come to me so that he could accept his recent diagnosis, Lou Gherigs disease. Through the years I have had many encounters with people who were trying to find healing in some ways. Life has taught me to never assume to know God's plan. The body does not always heal and maybe that's the hardest one for me.
The day Dave walked into my office, I observed a giant...6' 4" foot ball player type. He was handsome, strong, and intelligent. But when I say giant, I mean that he was a huge energy. Even though the disease had already weakened him to the point that I had to help lift him on to the massage table, his faith in spirit guiding his life was so strong. He was willing to do whatever it took to embrace all the aspects of his own nature. Sharing his feelings, his anger and his grief, would open him to connect with the truth that would always rise up inside and guide him to his heart. We would rejoice together in the communion with God. He faced his fears one by one and then the presence of light would liberate him to move beyond his body and feel the freedom. Together we would see and feel the light as it dissolved us into the Oneness and vastness of just being. Here he was not his disease; he joined with his true self. His presence would fill the room and there was a peace in not knowing the future. It was in the hands of God.
Dave was dedicated to his job. He worked for Manatee Palms Youth Services and a year ago came from Salt Lake City, Utah to help this company get on its feet again. He was successful in accomplishing what he was hired for. Dave's passion for life continued to inspire those around him, even in his weakened state. I remember how hard it was for him to surrender into using a wheel chair. He continued to move forward in his work commitments until there was no choice but to resign and be taken care of by his fiancé and family. As he left my office after his last session with me, I wondered if I would see him again.
The summer went by and many days I would think of Dave and connect in some way. One day near the end of September, I could not get him out of my mind. I decided to call him. As the phone rang, I waited patiently to hear his voice on the other end. That day was different, instead I got, "this number is now disconnected". I sat in wonder. I tried to tune in. If he was following his plan, he was going to move near his fiancé or his family. The doctors had said that they needed to put a feeding tube in him and that he would have to now use a wheel chair all the time. So I wanted to find him. How could that happen? So I prayed. It was on my mind for days. So I prayed. Then I let go.
Weeks later, I woke up early one morning. I was reluctant to get out of bed. It was a rainy, soggy morning and a part of me just wanted to curl up under the covers for a little bit longer. I could hear the voice inside urging me to go to the exercise class at the end of my street. I have been committed to these various classes for some time now. I have enjoyed watching my body develop physical strength and stamina. Being physically fit has always been a priority in my life. I love to connect with my body through my daily yoga practice or walking, biking, and roller blading. I cherish these activities. I have watched my body transform its ability to support me in ways that seemed impossible eight years ago. Through the years since I was a child, I always felt frail and weaker than most others around me. I was sickly as a child and my stamina was weakened as my confidence in my body to support me was not strong. I remember my grandmother wrapping her arms around me as if she were trying to give me some of her strength. She was a big woman. Her love for me was just as big. You felt it in her hugs and kisses. I remember one day she said to me, "I wish I could give you my strong body."
Instead of letting my agenda of all the things I think I have to do get in my way, I listen to my heart saying, "Go to class, that's where you really want to be.” I feel a power, almost like hands, pushing me out the door. As I am running down the street in the pouring rain, I still hear that voice inside struggling with all the things I think I need to do at home.
By the time I get to the class, I am a few minutes late and I know that I am happy that I continued to get there. Stretching my body, moving inside, feeling the moment felt so right. I patted myself on the back for my commitment. All of a sudden I heard the pounding of someone running up the stairs outside the doorway. A minute later a free spirited lively woman with a cheerful uplifting smile interrupted the class to hug Rick our facilitator. He begins to introduce her to me, "this is Wendy and this is Frannie." Then she says, " Frannie, are you Frannie Hoffman."
With wonder I answer. She begins to say, "Dave Guymon was my best friend. I am the one who sent Dave to you. Nervously she knows she is going to tell me something she needs to say. "Dave died on Sept. 29th". Here, out of the blue, I got the answer to my prayers. Even though it was confirmation of what I was feeling, through the tears rolling down my cheeks, I cried, "He was one of the most courageous people I have ever met. I loved him." She continued to share with me his final days and with his family around him, he slipped away peacefully.
Wendy shared with me how she was called to walk and meditate in the rain that day and as she was walking past the Yoga studio, she felt guided to go and give Rick a hug. How synchronistic it all was! I asked her how she knew about me and how she sent him to me without knowing who I was. She then talked about her ex-husband Russell. Then the light bulb came on. Russell had done session work with me.
The plan was unveiled and the miracle was touching me deeply. Dave found a way to get to me. He used us both to bring more presence into our lives and in the ones that witnessed this chance meeting.
Yes in his body he was a giant, tall and strong. I remember him voicing to me how hard it was that before he would lift up to 300Ibs., now he could hardly lift a glass of water. Today I feel his strength and his message lifts me higher. He had to lose his physical strength to find his vast spirit. That's really humbling. I saw that my own weak physical body, through the years, is what brought me to my spiritual strength. My physical weaknesses have brought me to more compassion and loving kindness for myself and others. Isn't that true love?
This journey we are all on is continuing to show me how we are not in this alone. We need each other to fully experience our own realities and share them. This is where we all can be free to fly and listen to the voice that sings within the heart of the One. When we cultivate our own gardens and are present with what is, these seeds will nourish us and give us the food we need to grow strong. It is in every moment we can be fed by the richness of life that fills us with gratitude and thanksgiving.
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