Prayer of the Single Lit Candle

Father,

We thank you for being with us every moment. As we greet a new day, we are reminded about those we hold dear. We are grateful, Father for the people in our lives that bring us love, joy and peace. We are reminded to guard those relationships and hold them safe. “Let the morning bring me word of your unfailing love, for I have put my trust in you. Show me the way I should go, for to you I entrust my life.” (Psalm 143:8) When we are in a storm like this, it is to those who still hold a single lit candle that we appreciate most. For when ours goes out, our loved ones come to relight it. We are so grateful for these people in our lives, Father. We ask that they be blessed in all ways possible.

We are grateful for every person that has come into our lives as teachers. Without them, we might not venture out of our comfort zone. Every person we have interacted with in our lives has helped us grow stronger, wiser, more patient, loving, and giving. No matter what type of interaction, we have gained invaluable experience. “There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love.” (1 John 4:18) In the midst of stormy weather, we are reminded that we are your children of Light, and we carry that spark of you within us. “If we love one another, God abides in us and his love is perfected in us.” (1 John)

It is our faith that carries us through each challenge. As each storm passes, we find ourselves still on solid ground with you. We open our eyes to a brighter world having withstood the storm. Bless us today for whatever the day brings and bless our loved ones, those we hold dear. Bless our teams and tribes and hold them up into the light Father. Bless all those who are suffering and struggling, we ask that you lift them up safe in your arms.

Let it be so.

God is Victory.

Amen.

The Dream Awakened

Typically called the “between times,” dawn and dusk are magical. Not just because of the extraordinary quality of the light, but because it is an experience of miraculous change. The metamorphosis of shades of gray to a full-on color spectrum. Autumn has that same flavor of change. It is all about the dissipation of the green chlorophyll that camouflages the true underlying color of the leaf. It was always there, but we couldn’t see it unless we knew.

As I sat outside, coffee in hand, trying to wake up, I mused about how a time of change is at its heart, symbolic of the maya, the dream. We are told that we are living in a matrix, that the Great Awakening is all about us, waking up from the dream. Shirking off the conditioning and programming that keeps us fearful and afraid to color outside the lines. As we take in more and more Light, we bust those illusionary limitations, and emerge as a beautiful and unique fruit, perfect in the NOW.

I looked up and noticed that clouds had quickly rolled in, covering the stars with a blanketed sky. They moved rapidly and then I noticed they seemed to be rotating. Honestly, it looked like a storm swirling around, but from my perspective I was in the eye of that storm safely tucked in my chair sipping my coffee. I got the distinct impression that it was our reality morphing, as if all the building blocks of our reality became untethered and are whirling around us. Then I just had the knowing that when those Lego pieces come back down, they’re going to be reassembled in a different order and our world will be different.

Something caught my attention and I suddenly noticed a large Red Fox standing less than 10 yards away from me in my driveway. I was honestly so surprised that it all felt a bit like my world had become a magical unreality. I pulled out my book Animal Speak by Ted Andrews and looked up fox. According to Ted, fox is a sign that a new world is opening up and the process of creation is beginning. It reflects that the world is changing and shapeshifting itself into new patterns that will be beneficial. It is a creature associated with magic and the “Between Times and Places” and can be a guide to the fairy realm.

Well to me, the times we are in do feel like something we could call a Between Time. But this morning felt like something significant happened. I’m utterly convinced that there is much more to our experience than we realize, and to me it feels like it is getting closer and is about to look us straight in the eye.

The flexible are preserved unbroken.

The bent become straight. The empty are filled.

The exhausted become renewed.

The poor are enriched. The rich are confounded.

Therefore the sage embraces the one.

Because he does not display himself, people can see his light.

Because he has nothing to prove, people can trust his words.

Because he does not know who he is, people recognize themselves in him.

Because he has no goal in mind, everything he does succeeds.

The old saying that the flexible are preserved unbroken is surely right!

If you have truly attained wholeness, everything will flock to you.

Lao-tzu, The Tao, Verse 22