Contemplating life deeply after attending a Memorial Service for a dear family member whose son transitioned. Story is hers to tell, not mine.
As I was driving home, four songs came on back to back in the random, iTune shuffle - a Sean Johnson and the Wild Lotus Band mantra, Gary Lynn Floyd and Jami Lula's, "God in Everyone," Michael Beckwith's "One Day In Heaven," and Madonna's "Deeper and Deeper" about falling deeply in Love.
As I left Calvary Hill, I had to drive through the neighborhood to get back to Northwest Highway because of the construction making Lombardy Lane one way. I came across lives I would have normally never encountered. I got a glimpse into the stresses of poverty and yet the ways people still create their homes and neighborhoods. Dilapidated homes and overcrowded apartments with worn out porches sprinkled with tired furniture. Cars so wrecked that you couldn't believe someone would drive them. It was their home, their car, their way. How I wish I could add to their good because I believe we all deserve the best.
I saw homeless men and women going about their journey. Tattered clothes and lives, grasping their Kelly green grocery cart or arms filled with whatever remnants of their life they could hang on to. Mental illness and probably drug abuse too as part of their path as they shouted at invisible enemies and commanded traffic to stop with the wave of their wand which was a white, broken broom stick. Hard living during harder times, a pandemic. I wondered whose son or daughter were they.
I felt a Peace that knows no human understanding and a Grace that kissed my eyes open even wider to compassion. All I can ever think about is how could I be of service for their Greater Good. In that moment, all I could offer was kindness in my thoughts.
Each one is an expression of the Divine despite the human challenges and harsh circumstances. Each soul a spark of Light despite the seeming appearance of darkness. I thought of what my dear friend said about her son," He had love," as stories were shared by his friends of his generous and kind nature. His soul's journey in that human form was complete. His Light spirals onward. Everyone's tears for the loss watered a new garden that will rise from his memories and his path an impetus of inspiration for something new emerging.
He was Love.
He had Love.
We are Love.
Will Love open your eyes more and allow your heart to go deeper?
Do you see God in everyone?
There is more to come.
That is her story and her son's story in this intricate weaving of their soul's dance. They will tell it their way.
Mystery. Sweet mystery. The edges of Earth scrape against heaven and a spark of Light peeks through the veil to remind us of our Truth.
Cherish the ones you Love, right here, right now. I hugged my two nephews and niece as they had to bear witness to their cousin's life.
Don't wait to tell someone that you love them. Waiting is cruel because life can suddenly throw in a pandemic and disasters and losses of all sorts and the time is gone. Moments missed can never be woven together in a tapestry of luminous Love. All we have is this Holy Now. Grab the ONE you LOVE and hold them gently, closely, sweetly and whisper haiku in their ear about Life and its U-turns.
Tonight, I wrap my dear one and her son in my prayers as well as the family, lifting them, rocking them in the deepest compassion.
See with softer eyes when you drive, walk or cross paths with someone. You don't know their story. You don't know their soul's journey. You just pay attention to who you are and how you show up with Love and Kindness.