Reflecting or Being the Light?

In my part of the Forest it is the First Day of Summer; Summer Solstice; Litha! We celebrate the Longest day of the Year, even if it only means 5 seconds of more Sun! Ah...the Sun! Huge, fiery, missed when we have had days of rain (which we have not); can cause burns on our skin and lead to cancer. Ah...the Sun!

I was thinking about a discussion I had in seminary with my Missiology (the area of practical theology that investigates the mandate, message, and mission of the Christian church, especially the nature of missionary work) Professor. I made the comment in a paper that we live in a Dark World. He totally disagreed and this carried into the classroom for discussion.

You see, for me, the World is Dark. I worked in social work for 33 years and saw the Darkness; I marched against an unnecessary War in the 60's as I was seeing the Darkness; I lived through an emotional and sexual abusive marriage for 30 years and watched as my children suffered the results of this man's actions, words and beliefs; yep...Dark World!

The Professor (whom I adored!) said that the world was not dark as Jesus was the world. It was just that we have forgotten how to reflect his light into the world.

My position was that the World is Dark and We are to Reflect Ourselves into the World; Us who carry the Light, the Love and the Understanding of how we are to Treat one another and all of Creation. Of course, this did not bode well in a Christian seminary that I was saying that "I" have the Light and Love that the World needs.

Today as the Sun Shines with all Her Might down upon the Northern Hemisphere, I am thinking about Light. I am thinking about the World that has so much Darkness in it. And I am Thinking about all the Light and Love that is in the World but gets Smothered over by all the Constant Oozing of Hatred, Bigotry, Misogyny, Corruption, Abuse, Lies, Betrayal, War, and Self-absorption. I still hold that this is a Dark World, but only because Human Beings have Decided that Living in the Darkness is the preferable Way to live.

But WE Know differently! We the Witches know this is not true! We the Goddesses know that the Light comes from Within! We Are the Light and the Love! Those before the onslaught of Patriarchal Religion and Thought, always Knew this to be Truth. But when the Male God came into being; the message was one that we were the Dark Ones and only through him could we even begin to get a glimpse of any Light and Love and most of that would be after we leave this planet. And only believing in him could we even have hopes of being Good enough to be anything but Dark.

What a shame! What a terrible Shame! We do not Reflect the Light of a Divine Being...WE are the Light of the Divine! We are the Divine! And as such we Shine as Bright as the Sun.

So then why is the world so full of Darkness, Terror, Nightmarish Actions of the most Intelligent Creatures here on Earth? Why? Because we have Forgotten. We have been Brainwashes by those who wish us to Believe that we are the Scum of the Earth, we are the Dark Sinful Creations, even tho' WE are the only ones actually made in the Creators image. Makes my head hurt!

The Sun is Shining Brightly here in my part of the Forest and I think about the Light and Love that is Each of Us. I See it every Day and yet, it Never makes the News and seldom is the Topic of Sermons.

I see it on facebook as we each hold and support one Another as we Travel this World that wants to Convince us that it is a Dark Place. I see it as my Kale and Rosemary grow and the birds come and Dine at my Feeder. I see it as a Card shows up just at the right Time, and as my Son and Daughter sat with Me as the Sun was going Down and Love Poured out from Everywhere! I see it All around me, but others don't see it.

We must make sure we Re-member that Light! We must not be brainwashed any longer in  believing that this Forest, this Garden is Dark. For you see, just like the pilot light under the gas water heater, the Light burns even when it seems the Light has gone out. Look UP! In the Darkest of Nights, the Stars are there as is Grandmother Moon. Even if the sky if covered with clouds we can be assured that the Light is behind those clouds! We KNOW it to be true.

Accept the call of the Goddess to Shine the Light...don't wait for "something" outside of you to be there so you can Reflect it! That is a Lie! That keeps us trapped in the Darkness. Light the Candle within you! And if you feel your Light has Gone out or the Oil is running Low; be Assure it has not, but Reach out to Someone you Know who will Relight your Light; Reach out to your Pet, your Loved one; reach out to Goddess for She is the One Who lit the Light inside of you in the First Place!

Blessed be on this day we celebrate the Sun! 

This is What Sisterhood Looks Like!

This morning I was on my walk and noticed an older woman walking slowly in front of me. I noticed that every now and then she would lift her glasses and wipe under her eyes. A sure sign she was crying.

As I passed her, I slowed down and asked if she was ok. She could not talk, but continued to cry silently. I waited until she got her herself together and she began to talk.

Her best friend, Cindy's, Mom lives in my complex and had a stroke last week and she is unable to live alone any longer. Patty and Cindy have been friends since they were 12 years old and now they are both 66. Patty lives in Oklahoma and Cindy in Texas. So when Patty got the call, she hopped on a plane, flew to Texas and then drove to South Carolina with Cindy to help her make decisions for her Mom.

This is what Sisterhood looks like.

The choice of Mom being here in a nursing home is out as she does not qualify (makes too much in Social Security...not sure I knew that was possible, but anyway...). The cost for assisted living is not affordable either.

So two options are now on the table: Mom goes home with Patty and lives in the mother-in-laws apartment. Or she goes home with her daughter, Cindy and she finds assisted living in Texas. Then the question is whether to fly her to either place or to drive her. Lots of considerations on the Table.

This is what Sisterhood looks like.

Patty said she got up with a heavy heart and decided to walk outside to see if she could hear God's will. She spoke a lot about trusting in God, God's plans, etc. I knew from her language she was Christian.

After she talked for awhile, I asked if I could pray with her. She was so thankful; and there in the middle of the street two Sisters, having only just randomly met, prayed to the Divine for clear discernment.

This is what Sisterhood looks like.

After the prayer, Patty asked me, "What church do you belong to?" Now, I knew this was not the time or place to disclose to this woman that she had just been prayed for by a witch. So I said, "I do not go belong to a church here." She was shocked and said, "oh but you must!" I told her I was raised Lutheran, but felt that "God" had told me to find "him" in nature right now.

She then began to tell me she had been Southern Baptist and she and her husband were now Nazarene and how much Bible Study they do and how I really needed to go to church.

She then said this while pointing her finger at me, "The reason we must go to church is so that God can reprimand us, teach us and let us know that what we are doing is not right. We can do what we want for 6 days, but on Sunday is the time we have to go to church so God can get right in our face and straighten us out."

From her point of view I guess this is what Sisterhood looks like. She cared about my right living.

I smiled and told her that I really was glad that we had this Divine Appointment and that I would keep her and her friend and her mother in my heart and I knew that God would show them the right path to take. She hugged me and we said good bye.

This IS what Sisterhood looks like.

Two women sharing an intimate moment in the middle of the street in the Forest! Right there in the midst of the Divine and all that was fresh and green and lush! I know she was sure I was a Christian and that is ok; it is part of my heritage. What is important is that in this moment I listened to Goddess and stopped to help a Sister who needed to talk to someone not connected with her situation; someone who was there in a sweaty tank top  and shorts, who paid attention to the signs of another Sister. And it was important to me that she Honored me by inviting me into her Story. That is Trust.

That is what Sisterhood looks like!

I came home and placed a ribbon on the Prayer Trellis for each of them. I know that these two Sisters not related by blood will make the best decision for Cindy's mom. How do I know?

That is what Sisterhood looks like!

Blessed be!

We are too much like the people of Oz!

Walking is Cathartic for me and I often am amazed at what comes flowing through the waves of this old brain. Sometimes it is pretty mundane; sometimes very sad; sometimes happy and a lot of times just plain surreal.

But then there are mornings like this when a scene from a movie pops up right in the middle of my conversation with Self and Goddess.

So, I was musing about how quiet social media has gotten now that 2 weeks have gone by since the misogynistic driven killing happened. This led me to remember 9/11. I was fully involved in the Christian Church at that time and remember people flocking to church during the week for prayer and consolation; for a desire to understand what happened and to ask their God to help us revenge this horrible killing. The pews were packed as were the weekly prayer services. It was happening to all Christian denominations, Jewish and Buddhist temples. People were showing up in droves waiting for the Pastor/Priest/Rabbi to give them words from the Divine One!

And then within a few months, if that long, the people went back to their lives and the religious buildings were once again less than full.

In popped a scene from The Wizard of Oz.

Dorothy and her friends are in the Green Castle where the People of Oz live with the Wizard in Charge! They have just gotten all dolled up so they would look presentable to the Wizard and all of a sudden there in the Sky the Wicked Witch of the West is writing Surrender Dorothy! Do you remember?

All the people run to the entrance to the Wizard, in fear with questions as to the meaning of this event. As they gather, the Guard of the Door, quiets them:

  Here -- here -- here -- wait a minute!
          Wait a minute! Stop - stop - stop! It's
          all right!

                    GUARD
          Every -- It's all right! Everything is
          all right! The Great and Powerful Oz has
          got matters well in hand - I hope -- So
          you can all go....

                    GUARD
          ...home -- and there's nothing to worry

and assures them that the Wizard has everything under control and they are to now go home. And they all turn and go back to their activities.

That is what happened after 9/11. We all went back to what we were doing and trusted that Someone had it all under control so we could go about our selfish lives.

This happens over and over again, does it not? That is why we keep fighting the same battles over and over again. That is why some of us continually say "wait; this is cropping up again; didn't we already take care of this?"

And so, it happened after Columbine; after Va Tech shooting; after the Theater mass murder; after Sandy Hook; after.......do you get the picture. So after the most recent mass murders, once again the debates began about gun control, mental illness and now misogyny has come to the surface as it does when we battle reproductive rights after some political person makes horrible comments or another abortion clinic gets closed down.

And after a few days, we all seem to go back to our lives of making money; keeping house; going to school; raising children; playing sports; etc etc etc.

But in the Wizard of Oz; Dorothy, Scarecrow, Tin Man and Cowardly Lion would not give up. They stayed and did not leave when the Guard told every one to do so. They had a mission; they had problems to solve; and they, led by Dorothy, would NOT stop until they saw the Wizard. But if you notice; everyone else left and went home.

And that is what we do as human beings. Maybe it's because we think "someone" really is taking care of it. Or maybe "it" is way too overwhelming and it is easier to just stop thinking about it. Or maybe this is the way we are conditioned to deal with The Journey. We want Something to happen, but not if it interferes with OUR OWN PERSONAL AGENDA! And of course, we love the BLAME game!

It is interesting to see how quickly people now play the Mental Illness card during these horrific acts. "Oh we really can't do anything about this because he was mentally ill. Guns don't kill people; mentally ill people kill people." And so the right wing protects their precious guns and the left wing protects their mentally ill. And the rest of us go about our business cause the Guard of the Wizard assured us it would be taken care of. We scream and yell our individual positions on social media and then it becomes old news and we get back to our own lives.

Oh, but then the next murders come and we are SHOCKED that this has happened again and we rush to the "Wizards" in our lives (FOX and CNN; churches; facebook; Twitter, etc) but then we "go back home" until the next situation shows itself!

Doesn't this make you tired? It does me and I was exhausted at the end of last week. I am so done watching this cycle go on and on and on. I get tired of thinking of all the sit-ins and peace and civil rights marches I participated in. I get tired of thinking how many years I have been a Voice for Women's Rights; Children's Rights, etc. It's been a long road.

BUT I am too much like Dorothy! I will continue to push the "Guard" at the Door until He lets me in to see the Wizards! How about you? What if we all refused to "go home"? What would that look like? Well, I hope to one day see it happen; and soon!

I'll see you at the Door!