The Creative Fire

Reflection

“Many sacred texts, such as the Bible, Koran, and Torah, speak of fire as a symbol of the vital life force that can be called upon for transformation, revisioning, or the transmission of renewed meaning.

Reflect upon the four fires—the fire of vision, the fire of the heart, the creative fire, and the soul’s fire. What does fire reveal to you about your dreams, work, health, relationships, creativity, and soul’s desire at this time in your life?…The creative fire signals the work that we love, a keen awareness of our gifts, and our desire to express them as a way of contributing to the world.” Angeles Arrien

Last spring I took a wonderful class at OLLI, our local university’s Lifelong Learning Institute. Each time he offers this course, the teacher chooses a few Mystics, Saints, and Sages and demonstrates their lives and how they have enhanced our spiritual world. In discussing Bede Griffith the conversation arrived at the Christian concept of Charism. We were asked what we felt our “gift of the spirit” to be.

What all I have received as gifts – I’m not sure. But I have grown in wisdom. And I have been given the gift of empathy and compassion. I am also able to communicate, to write as if I were talking, and to encompass and express a universal point of view.

In return I pass this gift to anyone who happens upon my blog: A Letter to My Children. I encourage any and all to use my ideas – and even my words – if necessary. In addition to personal letters to my family, notes on ancestral history, and my thoughts on life, love and death, I write generic form letters on a variety of subjects to aid my readers in communicating with their own loved ones.

I live a full life with my lifelong companion. I have spent many years sustaining a rich relationship with my children and grandchildren who are all an integral part of my life. These pursuits, together with my writing, I now consider to be my most important work. My charism, if you will…

The Student

It’s Abundantly Clear

“Everything I desire is within me.” 21-Day Meditation Challenge…Chopra Center

Evidently I struggle with scarcity mentality.  I wouldn’t have thought it.

Chopra’s “Abundance” meditations have opened up a new world for me.  I am free to follow a path of expectation of the best.

I thought I was already doing that.

Until I found this freedom in realizing that I have an abundance of time to write.

Until my skewed perception of my body floated throughout my day in the most unflattering of ways which created wonky attitudes about what I can and cannot eat.

Until I recognized that my belief that I have an abundance of energy propels me out the door for my walk. And that my love of the fall can encompass picking up leaves in the neighbor’s yard to feed the worms in my garden.

Until I comprehended that abundance is available everywhere; especially in my mind and heart.

Until I accepted that if I forget that I have abundance…I have an abundance of teachers to remind me.

Yes!