Embracing Sacred Law
From July 11, 2014 through July 13,2014, I attended the 37th National Conference of The Compassionate Friends in Chicago, Illinois.I have been attending and presenting workshops for this great organization whose focus is to provide hope and support to families who have experienced the death of a child, since 2008. I always look forward to meeting old friends, making new ones ,and for the opportunity to share teachings that I have discovered since the last conference. Since my daughter Jeannine’s death at age 18 of cancer, on 3/1/03, I have undergone a metamorphosis from an uncertain, pain wracked soul who couldn’t envision living in a world without his daughter, to a person who has found my peace in spite of the hand of cards that the universe dealt to me. In retrospect, I have found my peace by choosing to play those cards differently, and in the process have learned to embrace sacred law to facilitate transformation after loss.
Airport /Airplane Signs
Honoring sacred law to me, means, in part a willingness to discover the connections in everything, even in events that seem on the surface to be unrelated. We then endeavor to discover the teachings associated with those connections and utilize them on the path we walk after our children die. To do this requires our commitment to walk in awareness and to view our lives and our loved ones’ death from a different perspective.
I arrived at the airport in Syracuse, New York on July 10th and proceeded to park in the section labeled : “North 12. I immediately focused on the numbers 1 and 2, added them and came up with 3, which is the month of my daughter’s death. On the flight to Chicago, I sat in Seat 10c. C is the third letter of the alphabet, so when I substituted the C with the number 3, I realized that my seat number contained the day and month of Jeannine’s death. These discoveries reinforced to me that Jeannine was not only signaling her presence with me, but would also be my partner and guiding light in facilitating three workshops during the conference.
Nature Comes To Life
When I fly, I am always grateful to get the seat by the window. The view of the outside world from up above the clouds is simply majestic and all-encompassing. I find that I am able to quiet my mind and focus on the moment at hand much more effectively when I connect with nature. During the trip, I saw heart shaped clouds and an image in the ground that looked like a bald eagle. This is what Ted Andrews has to say about eagle, in his book Animal Speaks:
Those with eagle as a totem, reflects several needs:
- There must be an involvement with creativity.
- A willingness to experience extremes in a controlled condition and thus facilitate the alchemical process within your life. Andrews uses as an example: The fire of the sun and clear water are opposite elements brought into harmony in a manner that elicits change.
- A willingness to use your passions and use your abilities even if it means being scorched a little.
- A willingness to seek out the true emotional aspects of oneself and immerse yourself within them, and by doing so rediscover the lost child and awaken a higher sense of purity, passion, creativity, healing and spirituality.
I didn’t discover the teachings of eagle until after I returned from Chicago, but while visiting them realized that I have embraced creativity, honored the yin and yang of my emotions and immersed myself in them to facilitate transformation and to speak my truth about my experience, with passion and conviction. Eagle reminded me to continue to embrace this path and to reveal what I continue to discover with others.
Our airplane flew over bodies of water, the ripples of water were luminescent and had a life of its own. Nature is one of the many colors of the spirit, with a life of its own and a beauty that can not be described in words. I have developed a reverence for nature and am thankful everyday for its presence and the clarity it has allowed me to discover.
Learning to Witness
One of the highlights of my conference experience was having the privilege to present a workshop with my “soul brother” Kris Munsch of The Birdhouse Project. We addressed a variety of different topics during our workshop, such as empowerment, self discovery and tools for transformation. It was effortless presenting with Kris, I felt like we had done this together many lifetimes before. Kris and I are different, yet we are united by the passion we bring to the teachings we have discovered and our willingness to witness those perspectives with each other without judgment. All of us who have experienced loss due to death or other life-altering transitions embrace different paths to transformation. Being a non-judgmental witness to another’s life path, facilitates understanding. If we wish to be understood, we must first understand. When we commit to understanding, we become teachable. As long as I seek to understand and remain teachable, I will be understood and able to teach others with honor and integrity. If all of us can commit to being each others witnesses, we will be able to transcend the outward differences we perceive in each other and create a world that is governed by unconditional acceptance and love, which to me are the true colors of the spirit.
Many colors of the spirit
Many lives below the sun
We are colors of the spirit
We are many, we are one
From the song, Colors of The Spirit by Journey
Copyright David Roberts of Bootsy & Angel Books, LLC (www.bootsyandangel.com). Post originally published by the Open to Hope Foundation (www.opentohope.com)
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