Dear Friends,
I once made bread with my friend Gloria, a very gifted healer and Reiki practitioner. It was a grace-filled November day with the sun streaming through the windows and across our two tables. What I remember is that while I enthusiastically pushed, folded, and turned the dough, loving the feel of it in my hands as it transformed into something like a big stress ball of loveliness, my table rocked. Across from me was Gloria, hardly moving—serenely breathing and smiling. She gently pushed the dough ever so slightly, and her dough—and her baked loaves hours late—rose and were gorgeous. That day, I witnessed and learned something I know in my bones.
There are many ways to channel the Divine energy.
There are children who exude Light in their curiosity, sense of humor, affection, and energy. There are people whose nurturing of children is grace-filled amidst all of the noise, needs, and activity. There are those who channel Light by how they respond to each person in front of them, whether at school, in the office, or at the grocery store. There are people who seem to have a direct line to God—whose presence is almost viscerally grounded, those whom we always ask to give us advice or hold our loved ones in prayer. There are those who channel Light while interrupting oppression. And there are those whose gifts for speaking truth to power put them out in front—in the media, in the principal’s office, on the streets, in police stations.
The Light is everywhere and in all of us.
I believe that we are called to help it be seen, felt and known. There is no one way to channel it. What is needed is to step into, to own, what we understand to be our particular gifts so that we add to what the world needs in this moment. Which is a lot.
I have come to believe that the beloved song among so many Friends, This Little Light, needs an edit. The Light’s not mine. It’s God’s.
And it needs to shine this week. Regardless of the outcome of the election, there is going to be anger, pain, and loss—as well as the pandemic, systemic racism, climate change, and a host of injustices and inequities around the world.
So, whether you are rocking your kneading table, or sitting in prayer, I’m gently nudging, appreciating, seeing, and thanking you for letting the Light shine through you. For sharing what you know about the power of love, of healing Light, and of unconditional love. For stretching out of your comfort zone. The Inner Light, the Seed, Eternal Love, the Divine, God—whatever word you use—is ever-present. But it needs us to channel it, in this moment, with as much joy, clarity, self-care, and fellowship as we can muster.
This week, dear Friends, hold onto hope, reach out when you forget, and shine.
With so much love to you,
Gretchen