One Small Step...Now Is the Time

"That's one small step for [a] man, one giant leap for mankind."  (Neil Armstrong)

It has been quite some time since I have created a full blog entry on this page.  For the last couple of years, I have confined my sharing to my facebook fanpage, with smaller thoughts and snippets of ideas. I published a book consisting of many thoughts and experiences I had over the preceding several years, but I suddenly had nothing substantial to say in written form. The fanpage grew beyond my expection (17,555 at this writing), and it seemed to touch people involved, or help guide them in a small way just by sharing simple ideas.  But the deeper writing...nothing there.  I hosted a radio show, where I was readily able to answer questions and provide support, but nothing came at the keyboard. 

Over these two years, I have gone through many personal challenges - none enormous within themselves, but collectively a continued strain that seemed like the opposite of supporting my purpose.  Somewhere deep inside, I knew there must be some reason for it, or path that I could not see, but it also frustrated me...Why could I not get help in doing these things that I believed helped others...things that others would say helped change their lives?  I carried on, but not without ongoing frustration -- mostly at why I wasn't "getting it' or what I might be doing wrong.

Last spring, I bought a small business.  My finances toward such things as healing work, producing a book, or maintaining a radio show were depleted, my generosity toward others taking its toll.  I had to find other means just for my own financial survival.   It seemed at the time like a distraction from what was really important-- ironically at a time that I still believe holds the potential to change the world. Frustrations mounted as the business I had purchased revealed great misrepresentations in what was sold to me vs. what was actually there. Truth exposed, as is happening all around us (and is often hard to digest in its blatancy).  This brought on more frustration...a legal battle to make it right. I knew there was something in that process about standing up for myself, but I was tired and sometimes very confused.  I relied on some very close spiritual friends to hold me up at the times that I felt beaten. 

So why an I writing this now?  I am writing this to speak to each of you that feels called to a spiritual path-- to bring some form of light to a world that is pregnant with possibilities and ready to deliver a new and fresh paradigm for a new day.  It is the "good news" (the "gospel", I believe), just as Jesus delivered good news over two thousand years ago.  We have been told that Jesus will return to the world to save us.  Our small minds have assumed that it would be in a singular form, but I believe Jesus will return through the hearts of many who are willing to open their spirits and minds to a new way -- those willing to carry the Light until it illuminates all. It will not be for any single religious group, but will be the "Energy of the Christ", which loves and accepts all.  We are THOSE people.  If you are reading this, you may already know that you are one part of that whole. 

Most recently, the purpose for my path became quite clear to me -- with great understanding for "why" much of it happened.  I have seen the light of where it might be leading me -- and it is brighter than ever.  I see a new dawn where we will push through like a new birth.  But we need ALL those who have prepared for this time to be who they came here to be.

When Neil Armstrong stepped off Apollo 11 and declared, "That's one small step for [a] man, one giant leap for mankind,"  he knew that little step that he made as a single man doing the simple act of putting one foot in front of the other had greater implications to the world.  Today, each and every one of us can make that kind of step. We are all connected, we are all One.  As we return to that, making our own small contributions toward living in a new way, ushering in new paradigms, we are part of the huge step for mankind.  It is time to take that step that you have perhaps resisted, time for that push of energy and purpose that you may have thought you lost in this long journey.

The shifts in energy have been immense...As sensitive beings carrying the Light, or readying ourselves for that, we have felt the impact, we have carried the load and we have become weary from it.  But now is the time to keep the faith....take that new step that may seem impossible to take, but will contribute to a better world.  Now is not the time to be afraid, now is the time for collective courage. 

THIS is what we came here to do...So be strong, and contribute in small ways, knowing that each small step is a giant leap.  Lift up your spiritual soul mates, as they lift you up. Recenter your energy, find that determination to listen to your soul and make your own small steps.  We can do it together, because we now remember that we are ONE, and when we are One, we are aligned with God, the power of the Universe, the power to create the new world.

And so it is...Go forth and create it through your own light.

Behold the Turkey Vulture

(Repost from 2011):
A few years ago, when I felt led down a new path of a deeper spiritual journey, I encountered a turkey vulture, not on the roadside cleaning up remains of a dead animal, but up close and personal, diving and circling all around my house within about 10 feet of me. This went on for several minutes before the bird soared away, and somehow I knew that this unusual display was more than chance, that some higher power was trying to get my attention. I had had several previous odd, direct, and profound encounters with birds or animals during that phase. With each occurrence, I had known from the feeling that came over me that there was some deeper connection or meaning, some presence and power surrounding the event. This time, I did not even know what kind of bird this was as it soared like an eagle in front of me, because I had never seen a vulture so close up in flight, had never imagined that a vulture could be this graceful and beautiful, but I was able to ascertain what it was because of it's distinctive red head that looked a little like a turkey (hence the name).

Ancient cultures understood how God and Spirit can speak to us through animals. Native Americans also used (or still use) animals in their spiritual practices, or look to them as symbolic messengers. I knew deeply that these birds and animals that came to me in unusual and undeniable ways were calling me to a greater purpose, each providing some sort of guidance or wisdom. My discernment has not led me incorrectly, rather it had connected me to deeper serendipitous events or guided me down my path. Knowing this, I started reading about the Turkey Vulture to derive more meaning from my messenger.

I learned that the turkey vulture's wing span is approximately 6 feet wide (I can vouch for their incredible size from this animal soaring within 10 feet of me on my deck!). Their task in life is to clean up the mess, but an even more interesting aspect of the turkey vulture is that it is the only bird (or presumably only animal) whose feces is disease free. So the turkey vulture kindly cleans up dead carcasses or rotting flesh, then purifies them from any bacteria - making them perhaps nature's most perfect cleansing animal. They struggle with take off and appear awkward in early flight, but once they are off the ground, they soar like eagles (often mistaken as such at a distance), and can fly for hours without ever flapping their wings, riding thermals and currents. The turkey vulture that appeared to me did absolute acrobatics around me, looping effortlessly in glorious flight.

They are gentle and non-aggressive creatures, never killing, only cleaning up the mess of what has already been killed. A turkey vulture's means of protecting itself is not to fight or cause harm, but to regurgitate on itself in order to keep its attacker away, making itself undesirable to keep harm away. It is a meek and gentle being. Since this up-close visit from the turkey vulture, I have often pondered how we tend to judge this animal on its outward, "ugly" appearance and its "gross" habit of being drawn to and eating roadkill, not taking the time to be grateful for its continued deed of being nature's garbage man, gladly cleaning up the messes that others have left behind. We usually fail to see its absolute beauty - glorious flight, peacefulness, and contributing to the good of the earth. I have wondered if some of those "less desirable" humans (in our judgmental eyes) are our turkey vultures, knowing secretly how to soar...knowing things, doing thing that we never take the time to see.

The turkey vulture is symbolic of soulful cleansing, reaching a higher spiritual place...overcoming obstacles that we may encounter when trying to fly, but then soaring like an eagle when we get off the ground...cleansing the world bit by bit, day by day, by offering ourselves in service...being peaceful and non-aggressive, defending ourselves from attack, but only in ways that do not harm others. We should all be more like the turkey vulture. I see the turkey vulture as being much like Jesus and other great spiritual masters - peaceful, cleansing, non-aggressive, often considered down-trodden or less than desirable by society at large - all the while being a Divine model for us to emulate.

The next time you encounter this bird, see it as beautiful...be grateful toward it...acknowledge and thank it...then be more like it in your daily life. The world will surely be a better place if more of us do so.