I don’t know about you but I have to dig deeper and deeper inside to find the place of inner peace beneath the storms that wail on the surface with such force and destruction.

 

Hola Relatives -  As the fires rage here in California, as floods inundate other parts of the country and draught and civil unrest along with continuing climate change devastation lead to so much suffering, it is very easy to get overwhelmed by it all and sink into despair, anxiety and depression, leading to what I call “give-up-itis” or “what the fuckitis!”.  I don’t know about you but I have to dig deeper and deeper inside to find the place of inner peace beneath the storms that wail on the surface with such force and destruction.     I have to keep reminding myself that all I have to handle is one breath at a time, that there is more going on than what shows on the surface and what is available to ordinary consciousness.  I have to remember that the Great Spirit is working in its mysterious ways seeking to bring through what truly serves fullest blossoming and greatest good but that this is not assured and that is why I am here, why you are here, why we are all here in these very challenging times -  so that we can show up in the middle of it all and do our part to open the doorway for that greatest good to come through.     It helps me to remember the teachings of the Medicine Wheel  where the North carries  the power of wisdom, which is knowing that Great Spirit is present in all situations, at all times, in all people and  at all places.  This calls me to attune my awareness to  Spirit’s presence  to access resources greater than my own to create skillful  responses to the situations that trigger fear, anxiety and unskillful reactivity.  I  continuously remind myself that no matter what is happening within or around me, I always have everything I need to be able to open my heart to Live Love Now, the only time I can ever do so, sending beams of love energy into my body, into others and into the world.     It's about setting my sails skillfully enough to catch the breeze and waves of God’s Grace present in all situations  if i surrender enough, if I open with enough humility and  receptivity.  I had a great lesson in this years ago during two white water runs on the Tuolumne River, one of the best white-water runs in California.  At a certain point in the river there is waterfall that creates a hole in the river, where tons of water running at great speed and power go over a rock with such force that not all the water continues downstream but instead is pushed downward and up again in a vertical whirlpool that sucks you into it as if you were in a washing machine thrashing up and down, up and down, up and down.  Very scary to say the least.   If you line up with the current just right you can shoot over the water fall with such force that you sail over the hole at its bottom and be ok, but if not lined up just right you get dumped into the hole and that is what happened to me on my first Tuolumne run.  Our rubber raft almost made it over the hold but the back of the boat didn’t clear it and i was in the back so i got sucked into the hole.     Thrashing up and down in white foam I fought to try and get out but there was nothing I could grab onto to pull myself out.  My panicky efforts led to exhaustion as I kept trying to overcome the power that kept sucking me up and down taking on more and more water to where I thought for sure I was going to drown.  Somehow a miracle occurred. Suddenly I was shot out from the hole into the downstream current and made my way to shore totally freaked out but glad to be alive.   Several years later I was back on the Tuolumne for another try at it but this time a different captain gave us some valuable information that had not be relayed preciously.  He told us that if any of us got sucked into the hole not to fight it’s downward pull because that would be futile.  Instead he said that if we let ourselves be sucked down to the bottom of the hole there would be some downstream water that would push us out of the hole and into the river released from the washing machine that could drown you.  The key, he said, “is to just let go and surrender into the power and you will be ok. Don't fight it. ”   We set off  into the river with high hopes of being able to line up right and make it safely over the falls but some of our crew members lost their paddles  when we hit some rocks and ricocheted  off them spinning madly just before reaching the waterfall.  Once again I was sucked into the hole but this time I had new information about how to skillfully respond.  I let myself surrender into the downward suck thinking, “I hope he was right about what he said”.  I let go of all effort and was immediately pulled down into the depths holding my breath and praying for release.  In an instant that seemed forever I hit the downstream water and was blasted out of the hole into the  current.  Once again I was able to make it  safely to shore grateful for the guidance of how to be in relationship with powers greater than myself.   Perhaps this “medicine” from my experience might be helpful to you in your own process of surrendering with faith and trust into powers greater than yourself enabling you to catch the “breeze and waves of God’s Grace" helping you through your tough times.  May it be so! See you live next Wednesday September 1 for LiveLove Now. tove, tomás   (this is not the Tuolumne but it gives you an idea of what a hole looks like