It seems curious that the nature of life is change and the nature of most human beings is resistant to change. Could it be that the difficult times we fear might ruin us are the very ones that can break us open and help us blossom into Who We Truly Are? As the global community huddles alone together in the midst of a pandemic that’s changing our lives, the perennial story of Springtime continues to play out in ways it has for ages. The seeds dropped in Autumn and cradled in Winter are now breaking open and blossoming with new life.

A movement that’s been around for millennia continues to live out the promise of Spring with the perennial transformations of suffering, sorrow, darkness, death, healing, wholeness and the wonder of new life. Resurrection, a word of positive change, must walk through the valley of the shadow of death to manifest: It’s a touchstone for us as we awaken from the confusion of this transition to the presence of new life that’s birthing among us. As fear seeks to overtake our fragile personalities, compassion becomes the antidote for the everlasting promise of Spring.

Some might ask: “How can we have a Holy Week when there’s so much separation, anxiety, death and destruction?” The answer would likely be paradoxical and difficult to understand with the egoic, individualistic, finite mind. With the eternal, transcendent, soulful mind however, every week is a holy week, leading to an Easter celebration and our part to play in it. How can life come out of death and joy come out of sorrow? How can the pain of birth bring forth the joy of life? How can loss become gain and death create life? It’s the nonduality of this Earthly garden.

In the great lineage of Celtic spirituality the image of God is at the heart of humanity, the heart of creation. To look into the face of a newborn child is to see the image of God. To return to the heart of the seasons, to the Source of creation is a return to the Oneness at the heart of all life, death and new life. The freshness of youth is combined with the wisdom of the ages. Lovingness and Godding is for all people and  immediately present in the whole of Life. Divine Presence is eternal. It lives in the depths of darkness and death as well as the expansiveness of light and life.

So, as we ponder this ‘new normal’ of social distancing, unemployment, shutdowns, alienations,  disconnections, sickness, sadness, death and new life; let us remember to remember that even though there are terrible and destructive forces in creation, it is essentially good. Deeper than any destructive capacity is the Co-creative Life-giving Eternal Presence of  the Divine Mystery we call God, visible and invisible, known and not known: Being on which all being rests. And for those of us who identify with the Christ, the revelation is clear: “I Am with you all ways in Love.” 

• Give thanks for the Divine Life that is ever manifesting in this season. Focus on the birthing and dying that’s showing up all around you and cultivate your own inner garden for new growth, new life and new ways of being and doing. . . .
• Give yourself and others the gift of Love that’s pouring out to you through the Divine creative energy of Life that’s ever present. Become Aware of  this Holy Presence here/now.