In the Midst of Darkness

I do dimly perceive that whilst everything around me is ever changing, ever dying, there is underlying all that change a living power that is changeless, that holds all together, that creates, dissolves, and re-creates. That informing power or spirit is God. And since nothing else that I see merely through the senses can or will persist, He alone is.
 
And is this power benevolent or malevolent? I see it as purely benevolent. For I can see that in the midst of death life persists, in the midst of untruth truth persists, in the midst of darkness light persists. Hence I gather that God is Life, Truth, Light. He is Love. He is the Supreme Good. 

Mahatma Ghandi

Gandhi read the above passage for Columbia Gramophone Company while he was in England working for India’s independence in 1931 – the only time his voice was preserved in a studio recording.

I find this passage strangely comforting in a time when I feel that disaster, war, political polarization, and the human struggle threaten to overwhelm a vast majority of people. The truth is, we get distracted by sensationalized information, much of it being sold to us as if Chicken Little were running about telling us the sky is falling! And we, like Chicken Little’s friends, believe it.

Yes, our beautiful planet is taking a beating and war and violence rage around us. But what Ghandi discovered as he questioned the reality of God (and most definitely had concerns about religion) is that God just IS. Like the Psalmists wrote:

⁷ Where shall I go from your Spirit?
Or where shall I flee from your presence?
⁸ If I ascend to heaven, you are there!
If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there!
⁹ If I take the wings of the morning
and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea,
¹⁰ even there your hand shall lead me,
and your right hand shall hold me.
¹¹ If I say, “Surely the darkness shall cover me,
and the light about me be night,”
¹² even the darkness is not dark to you;
the night is bright as the day,
for darkness is as light with you.
(Psalm 139)

God is there. And one of the basic principles I learned in Spiritual Direction is that one discovers this truth when one pays attention. My first spiritual director told me that finding God is merely a matter of paying attention. I have found it to be true. When I live my life in haste, I miss the Presence, but when I stop, even if only briefly, I see it everywhere–even in the dark, even in global warming, even in disaster and violence. It is then I realize and remember, in the midst of darkness, light persists.

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Celtic Ways are Ancient ways for ALL

I’ve spent a good part of my life with Native People’s in North America, traveled frequently to Central and South America and spent time with indigenous peoples in the mountains of Guatemala and Ecuador.

When I read and study about the Celtic peoples, and traipse through the Welsh mountains and visit Gaelic sacred places, and ancient thin places, I sense a continuous thread of sacred, holy living.

Institutionalized religion can, and has, served a good purpose for many who are looking for their sacred path. Unfortunately, in many cases throughout history, the institution of religion has shed  horrific amounts of human blood around the world in the name of “God” (or whatever word one would use for God).

The ancient ways, kept alive by simple people, people who don’t fit in to the religious status quo, by those that have allowed themselves to be spurred on by that inner fire blazing, are resurfacing and calling to all who will listen, “This Holy Ones are still among us and the world now needs us to bring the Light in through the remaining thin places before they are gone.”

Those that hear this call unite with others despite religious association, acknowledging a deeper understanding of the One who we have chosen to serve. We have fellow travelers in The Way, guides, angels, and Spirit that teach, nurture, and help us in our work.

We live and work in the hidden corners of our respective religious institutions, realizing that there is still Diving Energy present in our rituals, sacraments, and prayers, but we are not limited there. We send out the Light, the Energy, and the forces of Beauty and Love to meet with those working on the other side of the veil, doing the same. We must keep the thin places open, we must keep the sacred in the land, in our hearts and minds, and in our activity.

All of Creation asks us to coöperate in the healing of the world. The work we do will not make us famous, but is urgent and extremely necessary for our evolution. Let us peacefully carry out our calling to follow the way of Beauty and Love.

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