Today’s blog
Lynn Murphy Mark
Transitions
In my Unity faith, the word, “transition”, is used to mark the time when a soul leaves the earth and moves on to the next stage. To me, the next stage is a time when the energy that made me who I am joins the eternal love energy of the Universe(s). Just as that God spark was placed in all of us at conception, the soul that we have grown into is released when we die. I don’t think I will find heavenly streets of gold. I do think my soul will know a peace that is beyond my understanding.
Yesterday my friend that we visited last Saturday made her transition. She was surrounded by family and, I imagine, by an aura of love that filled the room and held them all. In my 15 years in hospice, I have been at many bedsides as people made their transitions. A few times, I was the only other person in the room as someone precious took that last breath. There is no greater honor than to be at someone’s side when their time on earth is finished. I’m so grateful that my friend was with her precious people, all of them present as their love and their sorrow combined to support her as she left.
I am sorry that I will probably miss her service, since tomorrow at dawn I am leaving – again – for two weeks in Santa Fe. If so, I will try to be present and prayerful from a distance when people gather here to honor her. She will be missed by so many of us who were recipients of her wisdom.
So, Santa Fe in the morning it is. I’ll have a full tank of gas, some apples for the journey, and two books on Audible – Michelle Obama’s latest and Barbara Kingsolver’s newest book. I can’t think of two women better suited to be traveling companions! I’m taking two 12 Step books to use in the early mornings, sitting in my friends’ “portal”, an outdoor patio overlooking an awesome New Mexico landscape.
While I don’t intend to make a transition in Unity terms, I do intend to leave my present state of mind, body, and soul. I hope for a transition in my thinking/feeling/being while I’m away from my regular life in Saint Louis. I don’t consider this to be a geographic cure, but more of a high desert spiritual ramble. There will be laughter, companionship, clean and healthy food, quiet time, and hopefully a raucous dominos game.
Sheila and I are going to the Monastery for two nights on the 4th and 5th of July. There will be no fireworks, just an unbelievable panoply of stars at night, and a holy semi-silence during the daylit hours. I’m not taking my computer out there. Any writing I do will be pen and paper efforts. There’s something therapeutic about hand writing. To engage the fine muscles and nerves of my hand with the thoughts and ideas in my brain is such a different experience and I believe it opens different portals than when I’m typing madly on a keyboard.
My Spiritual Director and I met last week. She has taught me about “automatic writing”, a technique that works to free thoughts that might not come up otherwise. I take a pen and paper and start writing about whatever is occupying my mind. The difference with this practice is that I don’t stop writing to make corrections or to re-word a phrase, I just write. If I reach a point where I don’t know what to write next, I simply keep writing, “I don’t know what to write next” until a new thought enters. I have done this exercise before and it always results in new insights.
This morning I think of my friend, and I pray for solace and peace for her family. I think of my own journey and pray for safe travels. Outside my window, the birds are enjoying safflower seeds. The sun is shining and life is good.