Gratitude 03 … Sacred Spaces
Today I am grateful for Sacred Spaces external — those natural havens of Peace where the energies of the Earth seem to pulse a bit quicker and flow a bit stronger. They are known by many titles of reverence: “place of power”, “holy ground”, “vortex”, “energy eddy”, “citadel of calm”, “ley-line nexus” and “my favorite place” — just to name a few. These are the places where we feel compelled to stand in wonder … These are the places where we feel closest to The Divine … These are the places where we “charge our batteries” … These are the places where the air shimmers and these are the places where Mother Nature speaks more clearly … Essentially, these are the places we love above most others … These are places we call “Home”.
And there are also those Sacred Spaces that reside within: the moments when we choose to see the amazing in the normal; the times when we choose to see the friend in the stranger; those priceless instant when we choose to see the Beloved in an enemy; the instants when we set aside all our arrogance and all our fear and choose to See the greater glory of our much greater Connection …
To come into the realms of the former is to be forever changed for the better. To live in the grace of the latter is to continually re-forge the Universe.
Some of my own external Sacred Spaces include (in no particular order) — Ryon-Ji Temple in Kyoto (Japan), the Grand Canyon (preferably down inside it, of course), Ruby Beach and the Hoh Rain Forest (both on the Olympic Peninsula of Washington State), Mt. Rainier, Huautla de Jiminez (Mexico), The Green Sands Beach (Big Island, Hawaii), Hurricane Park (Alabama), Wright Park (Tacoma, WA), Leon Cathedral (Leon, Spain), The Wildwood Labyrinth (Alexzanna Farms, Georgia), The Eibergen Labyrinth (Eibergen, Holland), Santorini (Greece), Ngorongoro Crater (Tanzania), Avebury (England), The Glastonbury Tor (England), the EBA gardens (Chicago, IL), Doe Bay (Orcas Island, WA), The Badlands (South Dakota), the Birmingham Japanese Gardens (Alabama), Grayton Beach State Park (Florida), New Orleans (Louisiana), Rocky Valley (near Tintagel, England), St. Necton’s Glen (near Tintagel, England), Tangier (Morocco), and St. Antonien (Switzerland) — just to name a few …
These are some of the magical places where I have resided (even if but for a an afternoon) during my first 40+ years; places that have changed my outlook on Life and inspired me to approach my living with an intensified purpose and passion. Alone the clarified frequencies of Oneness they emanate have been enough to mold my character and ease my Journey, and for this I am thankful to each of them …
Just as important (possibly even more so) are those internal Sacred Spaces — those moments of deep calm when I remembered that true Bliss & profound Meaning in life comes not from the people we meet or the activities we engage or the places where we engage them, but rather from within ourSelves. And this Peace is as readily accessible to us in the most isolated desert as it is in the most lush of forests; is as prevalent in our times of intense pain as it is in those of our perfect solace.
And so today I am as thankful for my bouts of sadness as I am for my moments of bliss; remembering that I am as blessed by my spikes of anger as I am by my moments of caring — that I am as happy for my encounters with fear as I am for my moments immersed in Love. For this is the ultimate gift of our Free Will; that we may choose to be grateful even in those moments when we are least inclined to be so …
And it is with this in mind & heart that I climb my proverbial mountaintop, take a deep breath filled with calm reverence, and let loose with a long & loud –
Thank Youuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu!
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