Hello TSJ Friends,
On this rather windy and gray morning it seems that Solomon and SJ decided to sit on the little table I use for journaling.
SJ is asking all kinds of questions about Ms. Margie’s fondness for “The Bench.” SJ cannot see the bench and is frustrated with that. I get that frustration, don’t you? I want to “see” or believe lots of things that are supposedly possible but feel unreachable or unseeable! But Solomon says, “SJ, to get to the bench you have to follow the path you are looking at ….it is not as far as it appears.”
SJ squints and is just not sure if he is being duped. But he is trying to believe what he cannot yet see.
. . . The Path . . .
The path is easier to see than the respite of the bench. It is what is under your feet when you walk it and often easy to spot from a distance. Of course, at our new headquarters , “the path” really is the trail to “the bench” and beyond.. literally and figuratively.
As with any path, how you walk it and what you look for determine your experience.. I heard Solomon say that to young SJ.
The path I want to share with you today is an inner path of transformation and renewal. An inner path to inner freedom. That is where my own journey is taking me and I have lots to learn!
As a life coach meeting several new people of late I have been realizing that my desire (for both others and myself) is to live more and more from a place of inner freedom. In so many ways we live in some state of stuckness. Stuck in our careers, in our philosophies, in our past, in our pain and our perceptions of the world.
In contrast, true inner freedom leads to all sorts of wonderful things like self-acceptance, compassion, getting unstuck from destructive assumptions, beliefs and judgments.
Inner freedom leads to having courage to dream dreams and take small steady steps to realize those dreams and to both learn from and even celebrate mistakes. Above all inner freedom leads to the highest and best kind of Love. It opens the heart to experience God’s unfathomable Love and Grace as we trip and stumble as well as when we sing and dance with joy.
Surprises on The Path
All paths of life bring surprises and mystery and joys and frustrations. We would not have it any other way.
With that in mind I am going to confess I had an experience last night that seemed to totally thump me on the heart.
All because of a book. Yes, as has often happened with me writers have helped shift my perceptions of what I thought I knew and inspire a new sense of purpose and energy that runs through my veins like a shot of caffeine.
As I was unpacking boxes and boxes of books I discovered one I had always planned to read but never had. A small book. If I tell you the whole story about the book and how it touched me I will cry so hard I won’t be able to write this blog letter. The book was written by Brennan Manning and it is a parable of the love of young boy who meets Medicine Man/El Shaddai (the Christ). It is called: The Young Boy Who Cried Abba.
Like a piece of chocolate, I set it aside as a reward for disciplining myself to unpack more books.
I will give you a hint at least of the story line.
It is a parable about a young boy named Willie Juan.
Willie Juan had a sad life story that left him looking different from others and with a scarred face (burn) and limp leg. He was often bullied. Fortunately, he lived with his sweet, sweet grandma (Calm Sunset) who loved him unconditionally and told him about El Shaddai.
Willie Juan met Medicine Man at a carnival. He looked like the statue of El Shaddai. Medicine Man gave him medicine (oil called amorine) for his heart. He and Willie Juan talked and even shared lunch. The dialogue in the book is powerful and moving.
But of course, the Medicine Man had to leave. He had to go back to Abba, his Father.
Willie went home and tried the drops of oil. When they didn’t literally work he was angry and of course felt betrayed by Medicine Man.
Well, Willie Juan let out a torrent of tears to his grandma who listened lovingly and soon sent him on a pilgrimage to visit the Cave of Bright Darkness. There he faced dangerous wind and storms. Suddenly someone whispered his name.
“Who is it?” Willie Juan asked.
The answer was “To most I am known as Danger.”
“Danger” then explains such things as … “those who seek safety …. crave security instead of growth. They have no tolerance for mystery, certain that they can know everything knowable…”
Willie Juan listened some more and the Voice said, “You see, Willie Juan, the Evil One, like a shrewd commander, has surrounded you and discovered where you are most vulnerable. He has used your bad feelings about your scars and lame leg to tie you up in knots, chaining you to a deep sense of worthlessness…”
And so the story goes. Willie Juan discovered of course that Danger was Medicine Man/El Shaddai and in his Presence Willie Juan was loved and accepted…scars, wounds, heart aches and all. He learned about Love and what it means. They shared Willie Juan’s fajita.
The three drops? Forgiveness . . . Self-Acceptance. . . Joy.
May we be free from any chains that keep our hearts and minds stuck.
El Shaddai told Willie Juan:
“When you get to heaven, Little Friend, your Abba will not ask you how many prayers you said or how many souls you saved. He’ll ask, ‘Did you enjoy the fajita?’ He wants you to live with passion, in the beauty of the moment, accepting and enjoying his gifts.”
May it be so for TSJ peeps in 2016.
By the way I lifted SJ to another window so he could see that on the path there IS a bench. He exclaimed…. “Now I see it! I can keep going until someday I get to sit on it!”
May you lift each other up on our shared journey. I love hearing from you!
Happy shepherding! And may you be a little sheep-ish too as you look for and find happiness on the path.
Ms. Margie and Solomon
