By Don Manghelli
First COVID sent us to our rooms. Earth Mother stood at the door: “Don’t come out till you can treat each other and me with more compassion.” Then troublemaking federal agents invaded our nonviolent Black Lives Matter protests in Portland. And California burned all summer, while we looked on from afar. Then last week we began eating smoke ourselves and grieving all the destruction in our own backyard.
The mythical bird, the phoenix, arises from its own ashes. What would Spirit have us build from these ashes? “See, I will create new heavens and a new earth” (Isaiah 43:19). If I don’t stop myself, I will keep myself in a state of anxiety, frantically looking for more things to worry about. Unless I ground myself in Spirit, I get lost in anxiety. So many things to concern us today. So how do I ground myself?
First, I start with three deep breaths, just focusing on them. If I am together enough, I breathe in love and breathe out compassion. Sometimes I just breathe deep. Use whatever words work for you—or just breathe. Deep breathing calms the anxiety response in the brain, opening us up to centering in God’s love.
Then I ask myself how I can take my spiritual practices to the 2.0 or even the 3.0 level. These are perilous times, and my practices need to keep pace. What is Spirit asking of me to help birth the new Phoenix? In a recent email, spiritual teacher Carolyn Myss wrote:
“God reveal your wisdom to me. Show me the way for me. One word will do. Don’t let me miss it. Is it hope? Is it love, or is it patience? Or some other word that gradually comes into focus?”
Spirit is always there—if I ask. Spirit can bring me back to grounding in love—if I ask. Then I can find God in awe as I find joy in my child’s laugh, or the love of a partner or furry friend.
I can remind myself to be grateful, as my friend related to me today. Even after a stroke that left him paralyzed on his left side, he found something to be thankful for—and I heard joy in his voice. 'I didn’t think to be thankful for all the sun and clean air we have had this summer—until we didn’t have it anymore.'”