Finding That Steadiness Within

I know many of you are concerned about the situation in the Middle East but it's really part of a larger picture isn't it.

There are too many demands on too many people. Some are being expected to give things up that are near and dear. Some are expected to take on more and more and more until the breaking point. Some are simply ignored, others are shunned. This is, to a large degree, happening all over the world in many places and in many circumstances.

Sometimes it doesn't get reported but people in various areas know somethings going on and it amounts to this simple fact - that people are not being allowed to be people. They're not being allowed to be their normal natural selves. They're being discouraged from showing their actual personalities even though their opinions one day might be completely different the next day.

It's being demanded of many people that they be one thing all the time. Partially this is due to the fact that other people who may be making these demands are so overwhelmed themselves that they want to have something external to themselves that is absolutely the same that they can latch onto and say - okay, this is my rock for these shaky times.

We need to find that rock other places. I recommend finding it as something that is literally a rock, a boulder, a mountain. It is something from time immemorial that when people are overwhelmed for this or that reason that they always return to nature.

Find a place wherever you live that you can say - this is the land of Mother Earth and stand there if you can or look at it trying to keep as little that is man-made between your eyes - meaning your point of where you are standing yes, your point of view - and what it is you are looking at that you can say, "This is Earth" and nothing else.

You don't have to consider it scientifically, just look at it as something that is real. That rock and that natural thing.

If you are out on the land, perhaps you're able to drive out or someone takes you there, that is even better but if you are someplace where you cannot go past that point then look at the land. If you can't see the land then as a last resort it is perfectly alright to look at the sky, at the clouds. That's part of Mother Earth too.

Say, "This is real. I can depend upon it and if I am ever at a loss to find that rock within myself I will look at some part of Mother Earth and know that this I can count on. It will be there and I can believe in that."

I'm not saying to give up your religion, your belief in Creator in what ever way you have but as human beings we need something physical - something we can count on. Something yes, that we can touch because our beliefs no matter how dear to us are not always physical are they.

They are thoughts we may hold dear to ourselves - spirit yes, we love and cherish and yet we do need that physical contact with something that we know is there and that we can count on to be there.

Towards that end when those moments of overwhelm come up or when the opportunity to be in contact with Mother Earth or look at Mother Earth is presented lets remember to say this simple Living Prayer, first asking for all the most benevolent energies that are available for you to be all around you and all about you.

Then say, "I am asking that all within me that is in tumult be calmed by the physical presence and eternal physicality of Mother Earth and that my status as an Earth Person makes this a part of my being that I know I can count on and that I can release my friends, family, loved ones and those I admire from being this rock for me - that I will be my own rock united with Mother Earth to keep me steady and to remind me who I am, that I am of value and that Creator supports my existence with Mother Earth and eternity."

Goodlife to you all and goodnight.

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Photo is © B. Kim Barnes, used with permission, and can be found at http://www.flickr.com/photos/kimbar/3406663228/