Living With Virtues

Oceans wide and vast before us unravel, In Sacred Oneness we do marvel, When we determine to unlock the dream, We are not as divided we may seem. (Rachel Perry)

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Make of me a Divine Storm Chaser

By Rachel Perry

Storms blowing from all sides,

Winds so strong breath is stolen,

Left gasping for air,

Hanging on to life with a hope,

Emerging Happiness from Despair.

Fierce storms with ancient winds,

Tearing down the land,

Not bike, nor tree, nor house does stand,

People cower, afraid, afraid, afraid

When will it end.

On my bare arms winds beat,

Hair strewn across face and eyes

Whipping like the ancient whips

Which have whipped slaves and

Prisoners for ages and ages and ages.

I love you and accept you storm

Without fear or pain or worry.

I thank you storm for clearing away the

Illusions and ghosts that I have danced with in the night.

I take you storm, whether wrong or right

And know you are mine, you are me, you are all in me.

I take you storm and dance with your wind,

Free me from the ancient night

With your Eternal Gaze of Serenity.

Here, now, and always,

Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow

Divine Creator let me live

In this storm with peace.

Make of me a Divine Storm Chaser then

Make of me an instrument that

Transforms mighty winds of night

Into powerful streams of light.

I’ll stand here, on this broken ground,

With blood and broken homes around,

I’ll stand here smiling with arms outstretched

Free from harm and pain and hex

I’ll stand here a mighty Tree

Giving thanks to the Almighty.

**Serenity is not freedom from storms, it is having peace within a storm**

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“Let your heart burn with Loving Kindness for all who may cross your path.” (Baha’i Writings)

Loving-kindness, a kind that burns in the heart so deeply it cannot be extinguished. A deep kind of love that directs your heart and thoughts towards doing something good for everyone at every opportunity you get. Loving kindness – it would look like this, each person with their thoughts centered not on their own selves, but always aware of the thoughts and needs of others.

This greatness within me, an awareness of Divine Light, a whisper and a knocking within me, asking me, pleading with me to overcome these feelings of inadequacy so that I may Shine with the Light of God – this greatness within me, greets me each morning and tempts me to smile despite the sense of confusion which dominates every cell in my being.

When a someone writes from their hearts, there is Power in those words that reaches into the crevasses of people’s Minds and Hearts and it takes hold of a thought they thought was private and says “I see you!” and once seen it cannot hide and once seen it becomes part of the Universal Mind and once seen it transforms from a ghost to a spirit and once transformed it becomes alive with the fragrance of Divine Light – bounding from obscurity into the endless meadow of recognition, the boundless field of True Life.

The space between my Divinity and my Poverty was so great a divide it seemed I was two people, torn apart by the cutting of violent words and disillusioned purposelessness. It was Divine Love Who held me in Her Angel Arms and said “You are One” and gave me the hope to try just one more day. Just one more day, just one more day, just one more day, just one more day. Then I arrived here. In this moment, where there is union now between my Divinity and my Poverty. Where I am both Rich and Poor at the same time, both Exalted and Humble, both Powerful and Weak, both Mighty and Minute, both Great and Insignificant. This union was the path for me to freedom, freedom from the trappings of a world that will have me think I am in a race to have a great house-a great car-a great family-and a great reputation in the community. But all that is being torn down now. Without the American Dream what will the world set its sights on? I wish it would ascend above these selfish aims and reach into its own Soul and find Divine Generosity and with that begin to share everything, without hesitation with everyone in the world.

Imagine we just did that? Imagine we walked away from our jobs, or even better, that our jobs paid us to make resolving these issues of poverty, of education, of violence and made it so important that we could just devote our EVERYTHING to this Divine Cause? What would that look like? Everyone turned towards One Goal? Feed the children, Educate the Mothers, Stop the Violence! What would that look like? Putting egos aside, putting the race towards wealth at the bottom of the list of priorities and making the end goal accomplished only when we are all no longer hungry. These children, their hunger is my hunger. Their pain is my pain. Their suffering is my suffering. How can I eat a good dinner, watch TV, and tuck myself into a warm bed without thinking of the children who do not have enough to eat, who are cold, who sleep in beds that are neither comfortable or dignified? How can I awake to my world, filled with the luxuries of the engine of Canada’s economy and how can I not think of those who are waking up without the basic necessities of life?

So imagine if everyone, all at once, realized it was over – the gig was up – and the purpose of life was not to collect the most “stuff” but that the meaning we find in life is in the meaning we give life and it is when we are Compassionate and Loving to others that we truly begin to discover who we REALLY are. We must focus all our energies on uplifting the human condition. Humanity is asleep and we must awake our friends and our families and our loved ones and the strangers and our friends. We must give a thought not to what we can do for our own comfort and entertainment but what we can do to transform the lives of someone who is disadvantaged by the physical conditions of their worldly experience. We are given a choice in this life. Our choice is to focus on the betterment of ourselves (by which we accumulate greater wealth or power) or to work towards the betterment of the world. This is really at the core of all of our other choices. From this core, all other choices will stem.

If we choose to focus on the betterment of the world, then we have an important task ahead of us that will seem daunting and terrible and will challenge the very fibre of our being. If you experience this horrible excruciating pain then you are doing the right thing! That is because those who are NOT feeling pain are trapped in the old institutions of “numbing” – we numb with prescription drugs, we numb with TV, we numb with alcohol, we numb with an obsession for self-gratification, we numb with work-a-holic approach to life, etc. If you are feeling pain, then you are NOT numb and that in itself is worth celebrating! Feeling the pain will show you a light on a path free from all pain. But we must travel through the pain to experience True Painlessness – It is the only way to truly discover who we are. Once we know Who We Are – Truly – then we will know exactly the right way for us to be the most Compassionate and Loving towards others. Once we know exactly the best way for us to be Compassionate and Loving towards others we will discover that fulfilling this deep craving of our heart will bring us more Joy than we ever thought possible.

We cannot choose how to be Loving and Compassionate until we know who we are really, and once we know who we are really, all other choices become very easy. When all other choices become easy we will be Giving of ourselves in every moment, exactly the way we should be, in a constant stream of Divine Life that improves the condition of humanity moment by moment.

The condition of humanity is already better in this moment than it was a moment ago and that is because I shared with you, from my heart, from the Divine Light that shines in me, some reflections that the spirit asked me to share. And if you feel inspired, then that is your spirit asking you to do the same in this new moment that brings us to the end of this letter. With your inspiration, smile, from your lips to your heart to all the cells of your body, smile through the pain, smile through any illness, smile through any fear, smile through any discord and anxiety. Smile in gratitude that you are awake and aware. Believe that you are better in this moment than you were a moment ago and will continue to experience increased conditions of being better in every moment that follows. The path to painless is only found through pain. The path to courage is only found through excruciating fear. The path to joy is only found through horrific depression. The path to enlightenment is only found through mind-boggling confusion. So if you feel these things, at any time, somewhere in you, you may begin to be aware of a Divine Light that says it is okay. And when you believe it is okay you will begin to be able to Celebrate through your personal suffering. When you hold suffering and celebrating in your heart at once, you discover Divine Grace. And when you discover Divine Grace, your destiny to being a deeply Compassionate and Loving human being will be the most easy thing for you to do and you will find yourself completely free from all suffering. Is this not the deepest longing of every heart? Is this not the goal which we all seek to achieve? The good news is, moment by moment, we are indeed achieving it.

Copyright Rachel Perry 2011.

Practicing virtues, or noticing teachable moments, and striving to choose the highest, most loving choice, in any given situation does not mean you are “more virtuous” than someone who is not aware of their virtues. In fact, we can practice as many virtues as we want, but as soon as we look at ourselves and say “wow – look how good I am at practicing virtues” then it is a clear indication that we need to practice some more Humility, right? Yes, this has been my experience. We are so lucky to have the virtues to turn to in every area of our lives. Today I am grateful for Truthfulness and the power it gives us to transform anything in our lives!