In Honor of My Mom & My Family, of All Mothers and Families, and of the Sacred Mystery

With my mom, Nancy, and my twin brother, John

 This is for my mom. And for my brother and the family I was born into and the family I cherish today. This is for all mothers, all families, and for the Sacred that permeates all beings. And this is with infinite gratitude for the Wild Places within all of Life and for the Love that will not die. Blessed be.  ♥

Among our favorite Wild Places - the Painted Hills, Eastern Oregon

Kevin, Matt, & Brian on our first trip to the Painted Hills, 1991

With our doggies Mac & Kodi, Painted Hills, Spring 2011

Brian, Kevin, and Matt, 1998

Ron & me with our family today.

 The Wild Heart, full of beauty and permeated within the Mystery of all beings, lives on. Sometimes it lives on despite all appearances of its demise. Families can be impacted generationally by abuse and neglect, by substance abuse and mental illness, by domestic violence and suicide, and/or by the toxicity of the culture in which we live. While there is often a strong sense of love, tenderness, and connection in families, in others it can appear that compassion and love are limited, conditional, and sometimes even absent, simply gone, once and forevermore. Yet, even where love has largely been hidden, buried deep within untold years of pain and misunderstanding and unresolved grief, something survives. Even against all odds, something survives. Professionally and personally, I have seen this time and time again. There is that spark deep within that may have been lost in layers and decades and sometimes generations of fear, disconnection, and loss. Yet, the spark remains none the less. And if that spark can connect with a source of nourishment, and allow that nourishment in - ever so little is all that is needed - then something can shift and what had appeared lost and forever damaged and beyond any possible hope and repair... comes alive. Is remembered. Sometimes all that it takes is a glimpse of our Interbeing, of our True Nature, of the Sacred Mystery that connects us all,... of Love. We may not even recognize or have words for what we are experiencing. We just know in our deepest being that there is something there, something profoundly precious. And the Heart within ourselves, and which connects us with all beings, at long last is fed, is embraced, is cherished... and grows. Miracles happen. We can heal... Today, and every day, I am so profoundly grateful for my family - the family I grew up in, my precious family of today, and the larger family of all beings. And I am so profoundly grateful for remembrance of the love that will not die... ♥ Molly

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The Love That Will Not Die

Spiritual awakening is frequently described
as a journey to the top of the mountain.
We leave our attachments and our worldliness
behind and slowly make our way to the top. 
At the peak we have transcended all pain.

The only problem with this metaphor is

that we leave all the others behind --

our drunken brother, our schizophrenic sister,

our tormented animals and friends.

Their suffering continues, unrelieved

by our personal escape.

                  

In the process of discovering our true nature,

the journey goes down, not up.

It’s as if the mountain pointed toward the      

center of the earth instead of reaching into the sky.

Instead of transcending the suffering of all creatures,

we move toward the turbulence and doubt.

We jump into it. We slide into it. We tiptoe into it.

We move toward it however we can.

We explore the reality and unpredictability

of insecurity and pain, and we try not to push it away.

If it takes years, if it takes lifetimes,

we will let it be as it is. At our own pace,

without speed or aggression,

we move down and down and down.

         

With us move millions of others,

our companions in awakening from fear.

At the bottom we discover water,

the healing water of compassion.

Right down there in the thick of things,

we discover the love that will not die.

~ Pema Chödrön

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One does not become enlightened by imagining figures of light,

 but by making the darkness conscious. 

~ Carl Jung

Even loss and betrayal can bring us awakening... 

Joy comes not through possession or ownership but through 

a wise and loving heart... Weigh the true advantages of 

forgiveness and resentment to the heart. Then choose. 

~ Jack Kornfield

The period of greatest gain in knowledge and experience is 

the most difficult period of one's life. 

 ~ The Dalai Lama
 

The more we love, the more real we become. 

~ Stephen Levine

My religion is very simple- my religion is kindness. 

~ Dalai Lama