Dear Friends,
Who is your teacher today?
I was reading an article by Peter Bolan in the ‘Unity Magazine’ where a huge COYOTE appeared behind his house one morning. His dog set off the alarm with loud barks and growls. Peter saw a healthy coyote outside his back fence. There is high chaparral and a lake beyond. Peter lives in the San Diego area like Steve and I do, so I can relate. We hear coyotes howling late at night or early in the morning. We often see them running across our street since our house backs up to hills and valleys. As Peter watched the coyote he asked himself questions.
“What would it be like to be free from plans, desires?
What would it feel like not to have to make excuses?
What would it feel like to live in harmony with current conditions rather than wanting things to be different?…
Great teachers don’t tell you what to think. They help you ask
better questions.”
Everyday we have a chance to meet our animal and nature teachers. When we are open and receptive we have a teachable moment and mindset. When we start looking for teachers, we find them everywhere. On my walks, TREES are my teachers. They grow sturdy, yet flexible so as to bend and sway with the wind, instead of being blown down or breaking every time a storm brews. How flexible are you in these current times? Are you flexible with the flow, or are you digging your feet in the ground? Can you keep growing in your faith, yet be flexible and “Open at the top,” as Ernest Holmes writes?
In the morning I often hear BIRDS. Their sweet little souls create the most beautiful songs. I know it is a way for them to communicate with each other and I also believe they sing for pure delight and pleasure. Their singing reminds me to do the things I love to do. My question is, are you doing what you love to do, or are you doing what you think you should do?
I was reading the book, Medicine Cards, the Discovery of Power Through the Ways of Animals. Here are a few beautiful teachers.
TURTLE – ” Turtle buries its thoughts, like its eggs in the sand and allows the sun to hatch the little ones. This teacher is asking you to develop your ideas before bringing them out in the light.” Are you trying to develop something that has not been fully thought out?
BUTTERFLY – “It is the mind, and the ability to know the mind or to change it. It is the never-ending cycle of self-transformation.
Egg stage: Is this a thought, idea?
Larva stage: Is it time to make a decision?
Cocoon stage: Am I developing my idea to make
it a reality?
Birth/Butterfly stage: Am I sharing my completed idea?”
RABBIT – “The rabbit tends to be skittish and fearful. What are you fearful of? Stop talking about horrible things, and the ‘what ifs’. Write them down if you need to and breathe into them and then give them away.”
Ernest Holmes said, “Let go of fears into the nothingness from which they came.”
FROG – “Seeing a frog may remind you to describe your condition. Are you tired, overloaded, frustrated, guilty, nervous, at a loss? Time to take a break and bathe in a long relaxing bath, disconnect the phone, and take in deep cleansing breaths… Replenish your spirit, body and mind.”
HUMMINGBIRD – “Sings a vibration of pure joy. Plants and flowers live because of Hummingbird. Life is a wonderland of delight – darting from one beautiful flower to another, tasting the essences and radiating the colors.” If you see a Hummer, ask yourself, am I bringing joy and delight to others? Am I bringing out the BEST in others. Am I journeying to my highest ideal?
Teachers come in all forms, human, animal, nature and the Divine Voice within. Listen, be aware and mindful of the natural signs of wisdom.
We are here to learn. Life is our best teacher.
Who are your teachers today? Be open at the top, be receptive and discover joy and happiness, love and delight in all you do.
Open and Teachable,
Abigail and Steve