I am posting this April edition of RADICAL EXPRESSION a little later in the month than I usually do, as I was away in luscious Oregon at THE WORLD PUJA conference. It was a truly magical gathering, with fascinating speakers and tremendous musicians. The energy of the attendees was both uplifting and grounding, a combination I love basking in. I attribute it in part to the energy of the Puja steward, Maureen Moss. If you are not familiar with the organization, you may wish to give a look at www.worldpuja.com. There is an extensive library of interviews with many of today’s leading spiritual visionaries.
An added bonus of being in southern Oregon was that, though for this Florida boy it was a bit cold, spring was bursting forth in all its glory! There were too many varieties of flowers and blossoms to name; suffice it to say that Mother Gaia was resplendent in her creative birthing. I spent much of the time there in wide open awe. It was gorgeous beyond description. I even got to experience a walk in a snow shower: YES, YES, YES!
As an April baby from up north, I appreciate the old adage “April showers bring May flowers,” though from the looks of Oregon the flowers are a month early. As I experienced the magnitude of beauty all around me, it struck me once again how nature teaches us all we need to learn about how to live heartfully in this world. As someone who is a word-smith by trade, I am humbled by the profundity and simplicity with which the elements lure us forward in our spiritual emergence. There certainly would not be the overwhelming beauty of spring without the seeming deadness of winter, and the awakening rains of spring. The light is a necessary factor, but it is only a part of the totality of creation. As much as we humans resist the rains of our emotional landscape, it is from that rain that our emergent flowering forth opens us to broader and deeper levels of sacred experiencing. As the religious holidays of this month also demonstrate, there is no rebirth, transcendence, passing over, or resurrection without the darkness and the deathing that is a part of all creation. Comfort isn’t a determining factor in the earth’s ongoing cycles, and it can’t be a factor in a mature spirituality either. Rainy and dark seasons are a part of the sacred sojourners path. It need not be denied or resisted. The flowers have and will come again. It is our destiny to grow and to shine forth in all our spiritual glory. There is room in the open heart for all seasons. I for one love to walk in a pouring rain shower, and I am becoming more and more accepting of all of my inner weather patterns as well. I have come to know to the point of faithfulness that when I stay open in the heaviest of rains, the after-storm is that much more brilliant.
Though the spring season is much more subtle here in south Florida, it is present none-the-less. It is a cycle that is energetically a part of our soulful genetics. I invite you to call it forward, and to allow for whatever rain may accompany the springing forth of your next flowering. Just as Gaia is guffawing open in this time of magnificent creation, let your self follow the lead! Give way to what is seeking you, and allow your gifts to pour forth for all to behold. That is what makes the human garden so very wondrous to experience. Hold nothing back. Allow the rains to tender the places that are budding forth to flower. It is the very nature of nature to give its self in order to behold its self. It is the season, and you are the one.
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