Autumn Harvest, Decay and other Random Thoughts

The time of Harvest has come...

our garden

which has not had it's best run

it brimming with the fruits of it's labours

Strange time, Autumn

a time of coming to full life

and yet also

a time of life ending into decay...

no other season offers the two sides

the balance of life and death

as Autumn does...

This is my favourite time of year

the colours

the smells

the cold nibble in the air

it is my season

This weekend I am heading for Retreat...

"Prayers and Stillness"

I am looking forward to this

I am in need of this 

I am going with my 

Sisters of Light

it has been a year since our first

"accidental" retreat...

a retreat that birthed this blog...

I am looking forward 

to seeing what this gathering brings forth

I am facilitator this year

but have left much up to Spirit

to guide, mould and shape this retreat

things have already started inside

much like this season

there has been fruit and decay

already beginning within me

I can't be sure of what is to come

I can't be sure of what God has in store for me

but 

I can be sure we will be spoken to

I can be sure we will be opened

I can be sure, that once again

the soil will be churned

fruit will appear

what is old will decay

and seeds will be planted

I look forward to sharing with you the harvest

that I receive....

till then

be good to you

be kind to others

love like it is your last day to love

and remember sisters

you are free...

a song by my amazing Sister of the Wood...Cathy Hardy

What is your harvest and decay looking like 

my lovelies?

and for you in the Southern Hemisphere

what is your re-brith looking like?

see you all soon

Love and Light

Mondays Offering...Broken Free...Part 3

(part one and two found here)

every road has its turns

every road has its pot holes

every road has its darker times

sometimes it is hard to see what is coming 

because of the bend in the road

this can leave us

uncertain

uncomfortable

unsure

*

I went to bed tender that night

Fact is I am still walking with the residual effects 

of that day

walking lightly

being more kind to myself...

the morning after the break down, break open

I went down to my "church"

meaning I took the dog out for an early morning run

I wanted to start my day well

I wanted to believe all was going to be okay

but in order to believe

I had to move

and was I glad I did.

The morning was cool 

as the fog still hung in the air.

The farmlands were still quiet

and the running dykes empty.

Within 5 minutes of me starting my run

I realized the Puppy Prince was acting a little strange

I looked towards the direction of his gaze 

and there on the other side of the small water way

was a coyote

running along side of me!

He ran with me for almost a minute

and then stopped suddenly.

I was thrilled

it was such an amazing experience us running together looking at one another,

I could feel my heart expand

I knew it was a sign.

I thought it strange how he stopped so suddenly

and without a howl

but

I did not over think it and continued 

around the bend.

There is the cranberry field beside me

I saw what I thought was

a black garbage bag....

but no

as I got closer

I dare not even say to myself

what I thought it was...

not out of fear

just out of complete hope that is was

what I thought it was 

and I did not want to be let down

when I found out it wasn't...

BUT IT WAS

a big black bear

sitting in the cranberry field

enjoying his morning meal

I stopped in front of him

looking at him 

as he looked back at me

It was such a moment.

We stayed like that until Puppy Prince

came back wondering what the hold up was

and saw said bear

thus he started barking and 

running up and down the dyke

thus scaring the bear

who then ran off further into the field...

two amazing gifts

two intimate encounters

I felt my joy over flow

how different this morning was

compared to the morning before!

I was laughing out loud

as tears rolled down my face

"How blessed am I ?"

I raised my hands and gave thanks...

and there was more

beavers

herons

geese

they were all there to welcome me

to remind me

to give me hope and

affirmation...

causing me to

BREAK FREE!

*

Life has a way of pushing us

especially if we ask for wholeness

and I have

I asked for freedom

and to live as fully as I can

in this life...

it can hurt

but the rewards 

far out weigh the challenges...

*

"I am Vulnerable to the Elements of Life

A Tree

Exposed to the heat of Summer

                 the cold of Winter

                      the winds of Autumn

                  the rains of Spring

I embrace it all

the Truth of Life

and what it holds for me

The revealing of each Season

The Death and Rebirth

The rotting away and the Revival

I stand

firmly rooted

open

I do not Hide

I say

"Here I am"

I may offend

but if you try to cut me down

you will see your axe has no power

over me

I stand in the Truth of

The Great Magic

The Great Source of all Life

Only when It desires will I crumble back

into the earth from which I grew

ashes to ashes-dust to dust

Till that happens

I remain

Light Shining

Love Flowing

Truth Living

I remain"

~Catherine Beerda-Basso

copyright 2012

"I move slow and steady...

past the ones that I used to know."

A slow and steady Monday to you my lovelies!

Love and Light

Broken Open...Part Two

"Crisis, change, all the myriad upheavals that blister the spirit and leave us groping-- they aren't voices simply of pain but also of creativity. and if we would only listen, we might hear such times beckoning us to a season of waiting, to the place of fertile emptiness."

"The fullness of one's soul evolves slowly. We're asked to go within to gestate the newness God is trying to form; we're asked to collaborate with Grace. 

That doesn't mean that Grace isn't a gift. Nor does it mean that the deliberate process of waiting produces Grace. but waiting does provide the time and space necessary for Grace to happen. spirit needs a container to pour itself into. Grace needs an arena in which to incarnate. Waiting can be such a place, if we allow it."

~Sue Monk Kidd

taken from her book 

"When The Heart Waits"

Broken Open...Part Two

(part one found here)

I burst into the house

My husband awaiting me there

My words were unrecognizable

My voice barely a whisper

my body shaking

I wanted to disappear

I longed to sink into the Blackness

I had not felt this way for a very long time

years

And the last time I did 

I went "away" for a while

Lost inside myself

*

It took sometime

As the first reaction to such deep emotions

is the fight

But then I remembered

I remembered and recognized

My own Broken Open

Broken Open

Being Exactly how it sounds

like glass hitting the tile floor

The sound is startling

the impact painful

The dismembering frightening

*

But

in my memories

lay the Truth

And though

in those moments

I was uncertain about facing my day

Unsure about if I could face clients,

work,

the world

My memories took me

to the bottom of the Ocean

where Stillness and Calm reign

Where there was nothing to fear

Nothing to confuse

nothing to hurt

And it was there

in that Cathedral

where God came and sat with me

until I was ready to resurface

So in those memories

from years ago

I found strength

Strength enough to walk thru my day

Courage enough to not give in to the voices

Truth enough to know

All was happening as it should

My heart....broken

Widen open and exposed

Yet covered and held

And as my day went on

the tenderness of the Truth

allowed me to continue on....

...more to come

Love and Light

Broken Down...Part One

(this three part story chronicles resent events of my life...

taken from my journal and shared

for all those who walk this journey

and ingest the ups and downs

of said journey

deep into their soul)

Broken Down

On this day my world cracked open

on this day the levy broke

On this day

whatever had a hold of me

or

whatever I had a hold of

let go

and a new normal came to be

*

The day started as a good day

which had not always been

as the journey through summer

though good,

had been trying

with jagged rocks and deathly cliffs

So a day that began easy and light

was a  welcome day indeed.

I went down to get some work supplies

chatting with the Lovely there

whom I've known for years

When I was taking my leave 

she asked me to wait

so she could give me samples

I waited, with great gratitude

as these samples would go down with my

on my next trip to Colombia

and this I told her

when she returned,

bag of goodies in hand.

She smiled and told me that is what she had thought.

She remembered 4 years ago 

when I had first gone

and was collecting back then.

i thanked her

and as I drove away 

I felt so blessed by her gesture

and as I drove to my next morning destination

I gave my gratitude to God

voiced my thankfulness

and was warmed thru out my body

by the morning sun.

The came my next stop

A place to renew important legal documents

They had not been open for 15 minutes

when i walk in

And already

the air was thick with negativity

(Could people really be this unhappy at the start of their day?)

It went from bad to worse

I felt choked and boxed in

My efforts to stay in my place of joy

were no match for what was in this place....

I spoke with two separate woman

Both cut from the same piece of cardboard

Flat

No Colour

Lacking any Life

And it was all I could do to

not slide down their Rabbit Hole with them

I could not bet out of there quick enough

And as the door closed to my car,

Cocooning me in this familiar space

I Broke Down

Waves and Waves

of uncontrollable emotions bubbled up

and poured out

None of which I could contain

The time of Holding it Together had ended

The cards had scattered

As my body shook.

*

There was more I had to do

but there was no way to do them

I drove home

angels carrying me as I went

for truly

I should not have been behind that wheel.....

more to come....

Love and Light