Frozen Heart

Poetry Friday

see credit below*

Beloveds,

I know, I know, it’s not Friday but I have something on my heart and felt the need to share. I hope you bear with me on this extra email. Thank you for your grace.

I had to write about this picture. It is hauntingly beautiful. Stunning. A tree in the freezing weather covered in a white icy snow. The sun is shining through it in a flash of bright white light. It reminds me of a frozen heart that the spark of the Divine is still shining through. Even in our darkest moments the spark is there - maybe not visible to others like this but ever present nonetheless.

Have you ever felt like this? Maybe it was from trauma or abuse? Your life is going well and then something hits you out of the blue. It could be grief or an event or situation. This feeling could happen even years later and you have to figure out how to get through it now that it is here again. If this has happened to you - I see you.

Parker Palmer talks about the shy soul in his book A Hidden Wholeness. He says “that the soul or true self is real and powerful and that the soul can feel safe only in relationships that possess certain qualities”. In order to work on this you seek a community “one that knows how to welcome the soul and hear its voice”. There has to be certain qualities met to make it safe for the soul to show up.

Palmer says that the soul keeps us rooted, connected, grounded and wants us to tell the truth about “ourselves, our world, and the relationship between the two, whether that truth is easy or hard to hear.” There is so much richness in this book I wish I could outline the whole thing for you. Palmer says to ask yourself how you guard your spirit or have you been conditioned to give it away? Ask what fears paralyze you. And, what you need to help you move through them. If you ask for help and your ask seems impossible, seek another way. There is always a place for you to heal and grow and be your best self. I want to invite you to not be discouraged. Reaching out is hard and takes courage. Palmer says “live encounters are unpredictable, and challenging, and risky…. (and) they are full of the vitality that makes life worth living, and they enhance our odds of doing worthy work.” I believe that the risk to your true self is ALWAYS worth the risk.

Friends, I want you to know that I am here for you in any of those moments. I see you and I hear you. Things come up from the past for all of us - sometimes decades later! It’s okay to ask for help from trusted companions and to seek your soul. Let it cry and then let it soar like an eagle! It’s possible to use these moments to be more true to yourself.

If you are carrying something heavy right now I offer to carry you in prayer. If you are courageous enough in this moment, I invite you to just reply with the word “prayer” or send me a private note in my email. I hope you will hold me in prayer also. Just know whether you reply or not, I am holding space for you.

Martin Luther King Day Remembrance

Parker Palmer talks about a “third way” to walk. He says, “The third way is the way of nonviolence, by which I mean a commitment to act in every situation in ways that honor the soul”. On this day of reflection of nonviolence and justice, don’t be afraid to be a disruption for good trouble. Get out if you can and join others in the work to support equality, justice, and everyone’s dignity. It is important work and we must seek to continue it until the dream is achieved.

On this day I give you the Reverse Prayer of St. Francis

In the meantime, remember that even a frozen heart has the spark of God. It still shines and still calls you into the deep yearning for Divine love. Give yourself grace in hard times. You are worth it. You are loved beyond your imagination! In Psalm 139 it says that the dark is like light to God. The Divine will seek you out even when you think you are in the darkest corner. Keep the light shining friends.

Blessings on this day of deep thinking and reflection,

Jace

*Shared from a page on FaceBook called Holiday Cultures. According to google Freepix has this image someone on there might be the owner of this image. Sorry to say it is not a real photo in nature - but I say, it could be.