When I wrote the title of this month’s essay I noticed how I wanted to put a qualifier before the word ‘times’; like difficult, or challenging or bad or chaotic.  But if I do that, I’m aware  that I am hedging myself into a an attitude of interpretation and that hedging is probably not doing these times any justice.

I know that since the stock market spin that started last fall, I have been very aware, in my own life both personally and professionally, of a very real sense that the very foundation of how we are managing this everyday experience we call life is a lot less solid than I thought it was before.  As a seeker of life understanding for a growing number of decades (how did I get to be over five decades anyway?:-)) I have been consistently shown, taught and have reliably experienced that all the personal work I have done has been in the name of walking the talk of self responsibility.  I have felt consistently through all the years of witnessing others’ personal landscapes, as well as my own, a knowing that we have been preparing for a global opportunity that will totally support the work we have done.  We could be at the brink of that opportunity… What if we aren’t on the brink, but are truly in the creative soup of this opportunity?

Over the years it has been shown to all of us that the way we manage in our world has been getting frayed around the edges.  Indications of this dismantling of the cultural structure have been appearing for many years.  The not so far past has illuminated this progress with events like women getting the vote after forty-two consecutive yearly attempts to get the bill through congress and the fast paced growth of mass communication.  In my lifetime indications of cultural structural change of has manifested in so many ways: Vatican II; the Dalai Lama ‘going public’; our collective work on getting to know our ‘inner child’; the shrinking of the world through the internet; the realization of our immersion in the Victim archetype both personally and as a collective; the mainstreaming of the attitude of quantum mechanics where the validity of the unseen has become an empirical truth rather than hopeful thinking; the understanding that the patriarchy has not as much to do with men as much as it has been a belief set that both genders have lived by; that only through radical self acceptance can we truly change; the importance of compassion being inclusive of the self…..I could go on and on here just identifying examples of perspectives that could be healthier than the way we have been living for a millennium or two.

The challenge I have been dubiously blessed with experiencing these past months has been the realization that our preparatory work could actually be over and the time is at hand for us to put what we have studied and practiced into action.  It is time to know that we have done a lot of work and we can implement it in our daily life.  That is a big huge statement for me to make.  I can feel the second guessing banging on the door of this internal sanctuary I write out of.  Who am I to say that we have done the work?

In the past I had moved from one delicious educative experience to another always knowing that I needed to gather more information so I could know more.  It was a delightful way to identify myself; the seeking student.  About six years ago, I found myself having a different experience: that I had learned enough and now it was time to live what I had learned.  It was an uncomfortable shift for me, but now I can see the truth of it.

We are being faced with the dismantling of the way we live in the world.  No longer is half a world away a deterrent to knowing what is going on.  No longer is that distance any guarantee that we will not be touched by the violence or the consequences of the thought of violence enacted far away from us.  No longer can we relax into the truth that thoughts don’t matter just because they aren’t manifest because that truth is really a myth.  The way that this dismantling is manifesting is through the shake down of our economic structure.  No longer is there a place to hide for those who have been exploiting the culture’s way of navigating economics.

What are we being called to do?  We are being called to leave the blame game.  We are being called to stop reacting to events from a place of fear and to respond to events, and the resultant fear we feel, as our souls voicing instruction for self responsibility.  We are being called to gather our well studied wits together and embrace the courage we have from the knowledge we have painstakingly gleaned to stand in what we know to be the truth:

• Divine does not make junk so, therefore, each of us is precious.
• An Attitude of Gratitude is a must.
• The only way that we can change is by first accepting ourselves exactly as we are.
• Everyone in our life is a reflection of instruction for our soul’s growth.
• We are in co-creation with this earth whom I call Gaia.  We are a part of her, so however we treat ourselves, we are treating her.
• As my dear friend and colleague, Dennis Mead-Shikaly is known for saying, “The way we do anything is how we do everything”
• And as my dearest husband Joe says, “Pray like it is all up to God and work like it is all up to me.”

In closing I am aware of a deep sense of compassion for myself and the journey I have chosen to walk by being here at this time.  I am so grateful for this life and the loving and willing souls I have gathered around me and with whom I travel.  I encourage all of you to remember that you are not alone on your path of seeking life’s understanding.  May you have the courage to ask for the help you might need to ease your journey with grace and gratitude.