Spiritual Guidance Blog
What nature is teaching me about letting go...
by Robert Meagher on 08/03/16
A friend recently gave me a housewarming gift.
The gift was a beautiful Calla Lilly (Zantedeschia Araceae for all you
botanists out there). Being a lover of all forms of flora, I welcomed this
plant into my home and immediately began to research the care needs for the Calla
Lilly. To my surprise, the Calla Lilly thrives on a care cycle that is
completely opposite to most flowering household plants.
Most flower-producing household plants
require a rest period in the winter months (common exceptions may include
African Violets and Christmas/Easter Cactus). Come spring, one usually
increases watering and fertilizing starts shortly thereafter. These basis care
instructions, along with sufficient light, will bring the plant into bloom for
the coming summer months.
The Calla Lilly, however, works on the
opposite cycle of care. One brings the plant into rest during the late spring
and summer months. When the fall arrives, and the days start to shorten, one
gradually picks up watering as new leaf growth emerges. Come late fall, new
flowers should start to emerge and this is when fertilizing starts. With these
basic care instructions in mind, along with sufficient light, the Calla Lilly
will produce beautiful, ornamental flowers throughout the winter.
So I was quite excited about this plant’s
new care cycle—something out of the ordinary. What became tough for me to accept
was that during the rest period, ALL watering needed to cease. The plant needed
to be allowed to lay dormant. All the foliage needed to be allowed to turn
yellow and wither. In other words, in order to allow the plant to live again, I
needed to let the plant die off.
Allowing the foliage to die off was
difficult for me. I would see the parched soil and would reach for the watering
can. I would gesture to water the Calla Lilly, but would remind myself of the
need to allow the play to lay dormant. “How could I let such a beautiful thing
die!?”…I would ask myself.
Nature is a beautiful teacher about letting
go. Nature knows exactly what it needs to thrive. The Calla Lilly knows it
needs to go dormant during a certain time of the year—it needs to die off. This
rest period is necessary in order to save up its energies for a rebirth. This ‘laying
dormant’, this resting, is rife throughout nature. Nature tells us, and shows
us, how the natural cycles of birth and death merge to create a continuous
cycle of life.
What could we learn from nature about this
compassionate letting go in order to bloom again and live on? The Calla Lilly
is not dead. It is simply resting up for its rebirth. What other birth and
death cycles can we apply this teaching to? Where can you learn to let go
knowing that in death there is rebirth…all as nature designed it.
Heaven is not somewhere you go...
by Robert Meagher on 07/02/16
“Heaven is not somewhere you go…heaven is somewhere
you are!”
For much of my life I believed in the idea
that heaven was somewhere I went, somewhere I ended up after I died. This
belief was most evident in the religious tradition and practices I grew up
with. However, the religious institutions were not the only source of this
message.
Learning that heaven was a place I ended up
was repeated throughout my educational experiences—from kindergarten to
university. The message was ever-present is the media and the health-care
system. The mortuary business, at least the mortuary business I was exposed to,
held this message near and dear. And the culture at large imbibed and imbued
this message. No wonder I believed this to be true! It was all around me.
And what an interesting thought system…to
believe that heaven is somewhere else…somewhere you go once you die. At least
it has eased the pain and grief of many a soul around the world to know their
loved ones have ‘ended up in a better place.’
But what if…what IF…heaven is not somewhere
we go? What if heaven is not a place we end up after we die? What then? What’s
left? What’s left to live for?
What if heaven is the place we are? Right
here, right now. Doesn’t the bible speak of such possibilities… “Thy Kingdom
come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.” ? (Matthew 6:10, KJV)
What if heaven is a choice? A choice to
live each day…for today: a choice for happiness; a choice for peace; a choice
for love.
If right now, as you are reading this, you
are saying… “Easier said than done!”… I may respond by asking… “Who is saying
it’s easier said than done? Who is choosing how you feel? Who is believing a
certain version of a story that you are playing in your head? Who is holding you
back from living the life you have always wanted to lead?”
Why do we wake up some mornings and feel
great, alive, ready to take on the world? And why is it that other mornings all
we want to do is stay in bed and get some rest!? What makes us get on with our
days…with glee?...or with disdain and resentment? Who is in charge of your day?
Who is seeing what you are seeing?
These are, perhaps, some of the great
philosophical questions of millennia. But what if the answer to all these
questions is right HERE, right NOW, staring at you when you look in the mirror?
Here is what I have learned. Heaven is
here. Heaven is now. There is no other place to go. There is no other place to
be. There is no pearly gate. There is no judgement day. WE are the judge…and
TODAY is judgement day. Each and every day you rise to meet the day, you ARE
the judge.
Now…what’s the verdict?
Are You Open?
by Robert Meagher on 06/03/16
Have you ever noticed how the same people keep showing up in
your life? I don’t mean the exact same person, but more the same personality
keeps showing up in your life. You notice it more acutely when the same sort of
aggravating or annoying personality keeps showing up in your life.
Over the past seven years I have facilitated a lot of
different study and discussion groups. Inevitably, one person shows up who
wants to change things—sometimes just a little, sometimes a lot! Perhaps they
want to change the format; sometimes they want to change the date, time, or
duration of the meetings; sometimes they want to change the content and purpose
of the group. It never fails; this dear soul eventually shows up at the study
and discussion groups I host and wants to change things. Oh!...did I mention
that in each of these cases no one was asked for their opinion; the dear soul
simply came forward to ask for the changes.
These unsolicited requests always rattled the ‘controlling’
side of my personality. And I would always have a tendency to, at first, meet
these unsolicited requests with resistance. I would always listen to what the
person had to say and, many times, I would actually make changes based on their
suggestions. But the underlying resistance remained and the frustration of
having to make changes persisted.
So when the latest of these personalities showed up at a
group I recently launched, I recognized them right away. In this case, the
group had not even met for the first time and this dear soul was already making
suggestions for change. The same old feelings came up for me again: the
resistance; the frustration.
So I decided to heal these ongoing, repetitive, devolving
emotions by simply being open to the possibility I had something to learn from
this person. I trusted that this dear soul had come into my life for a reason
(I may never know why in this lifetime) and there was something I had to learn
from them. My change of mind and approach allowed my resentment and frustration
to fade away.
In the latest example, some changes were made to the group’s
functioning. But the real difference was how I reacted to the changes. I let go
of my need to control and went with the flow. I realized nothing was ‘mine’ in
this endeavor and process, and allowed myself to be open to letting go and
going with the flow.
The next time that same ‘ole personality shows up in your
life, just be open to them. See what happens.
When it flows, you know it’s right…
by Robert Meagher on 05/02/16
In recent years I have been blessed to recognize when the
initiatives and adventures I embark on are right for me at the time. It hasn’t
always been this way, and I still sometimes ignore the messages and signs, but it’s
much easier for me to know if something I have undertaken is the right thing at
the time.
When I worked in traditional jobs and settings, one of the
overarching principles and paradigms was to set a goal and don’t stop until you
have achieved it. Sometimes achieving the goal was easy. But many times there
was much struggle and sometimes you just felt like giving up. I taught myself
that ‘when the going gets tough, the tough get going’…and I would labor on in
the face of seemingly insurmountable obstacles. While there was always a sense
of accomplishment associated with my victories and successes, there often were
also battle scars to be treated and/or ‘showed off,’ depending on the
situation.
That old way of working has given way to a new approach—an
approach of recognizing and accepting that if things are meant to be, they will
flow easily; if they are not, I will be shown. I no longer struggle with things
I undertake. I set my intention and start the journey. If things go smoothly or
manifest quickly, I know it is right and meant to be. If things don’t go
smoothly, then I accept it as a sign that it may not be the right time to
undertake such an effort.
This new approach does not mean I halt all production, give
up, and drop everything I have been doing. What it does mean is I accept that
life doesn’t have this, whatever it is, in mind for me right now. Maybe it
means stopping; maybe it means taking a step back and re-evaluating what I am
doing; maybe it means making modifications and taking a different approach. But
what is absent is the struggling, the trying to force things, the anger,
frustration, and resentment that something hasn’t worked out the way I intended
it to.
When life flows, you know it’s right. When it doesn’t,
consider asking yourself what’s going on. Life doesn’t lie.
Shanti, Namaste, Agapé,
Healing the physical body through forgiveness
by Robert Meagher on 04/02/16
During a recent study / discussion group I ask participants
if they noticed any change to their physical health and body as a result of
forgiveness—forgiving other people and forgiving themselves. The responses
ranged from the obvious to the miraculous.
Initial responses revealed how people felt an overall ‘sense
of relief’ from forgiving that was felt in the body as a relaxing sensation in
their chest. Some described this as a freeing of ‘space’ within their body and
an overall feeling of expansiveness.
A few people commented that the relief brought about by
forgiveness caused them to feel lighter. These people described the feeling as
a ‘light of foot’ or floating on air as they walked. They went on to explain
that the overall feeling of relief resulted in their bodies feeling lighter and
the sense of elation at releasing pent-up tension felt, at times, like overwhelming
joy that resulted in ‘walking on clouds.’
One person noticed over time, as result of practicing
forgiveness, that their body reacted differently to common colds and influenza.
They shared that bouts of colds and flus no longer had the intensity or
longevity they used to. Another person shared that they attributed their
journey with forgiveness as ridding themselves of long-held ailments and body
aches.
Could it be that the simple act of forgiveness can heal the
body? My own personal experience with forgiveness has shown me that such
possibilities exist. If you have a story to share about how forgiveness healed
your body, please share with me. With your permission, I may share it in future
newsletters.
Shanti, Namaste, Agapé,