Dear friends,
What if we were to see this time of pandemic as an opportunity to deepen our practice, get a wider perspective, remember what we value, and reassess our priorities? Just imagine looking back at this time as a turning point. And perhaps it will also have been a pivotal moment in the life of community, the moment we understood just how deeply we are connected, how profoundly "in this together," we are.
This is the time when we are each forced to stop and become like trees, rooting ourselves deeper into what really matters. Those roots will allow us to endure the force of unexpected storms.
So many of our plans are going by the wayside. The big question of the moment is "How will we deal with change?" And that is also the soul's question as well, because all of life is change. When my plans change abruptly, drastically, I am initially thrown off balance, destabilized. And then I am at a crossroads, a moment of choice. I can wallow in regret, be paralyzed with shock and disbelief, fume in rage, stomp my foot in tantrum, take it out on anyone handy, or fixate on what's NOT.
Or, I can find my balance again, grieve my losses, and open to the gifts of this moment, to what IS. There have been so many times in my life when I missed the miraculous blessing in front of me because I was preoccupied with what I had felt entitled to or expected.
What keeps us from receiving the gift of this moment? Sometimes it is my sense of entitlement, my dashed expectations. Sometimes I get distracted. Often it is my anxiety that causes me to miss the blessing of this moment. And so if we are to become receptive to that blessing, we need a strategy for dealing with anxiety, moment to moment. It's important to notice what feeds my anxiety and what feeds my courageous, spacious and loving heart. Will I read yet another interesting article about the virus? Or will I step into my garden and nibble at the chives who return year after year to spice up my life?
Right now some of the Psalms that have in the past seemed difficult, are speaking to me. Psalm 56:4 says," In the (very) day that I fear, I will put my trust in You."
My practice is to notice, really notice when fear arises, so that in that very moment I can turn and surrender to the Great Mystery. It's tricky because fear often wears a disguise. The disguise might look like anger or cynicism or irritability or numbness or anxiety or tension in my body. When I can catch myself, I can interrupt the pattern of fear hiding behind one of these masks. Then, I notice the fear, take care of myself with tender self-compassion, and open in trust to the Great Mystery, relaxing into the Divine embrace, which, in truth. has been holding me all along.
To hear this chant, please visit: http://www.rabbishefagold.com/trust-in-you-yom-ira/