Putting Words Around the Unfolding
Here we are again.
You are You,
and I am learning to be me.
It’s funny…
this long road I have travelled
with all the detours along the way,
while You simply waited.
I thought I had a long way to go.
But I was wrong.
I just needed to stop
and allow myself
a different view.
Now I am on the vista.
I see your landscape
and my place in it.
It takes my breath away
as all the tension
of trying so hard
floats away.
Copyright© Cynthia Cady Stanton, 2020
When in isolation,
and the feeling of it overwhelms,
remember the love within you.
Look to your heart and
the fullness there, the fullness that
swells with your sweet attention to it.
You are not alone.
You are the branch which stretches and shades from
every tree you have ever sat under.
You are the sea spray that has kissed your face
from every stroll on the beach.
You are the joy of your beloved pet who
always blesses you with pure affection.
You are the song that the morning bird sings.
You are even the touch of every hand held and
every embrace shared.
Every heart contains these wonders
for they have been memorized within
its secret and divine chambers.
Therefore, your heart is the keeper
and she waits for you.
Learning to trust her
allows you to relax into your life
and glow as designed to do so
no matter what is happening outside of you.
Those who know this, know how
to live from the inside.
They know how to touch God.
It is that simple.
The Presence lives in you, so
you are not alone.
Copyright© Cynthia Cady Stanton, April 2020, During the Covid 19 Pandemic
I am as sure as I live that nothing is so near to me as God. God is nearer to me than I am to myself; my existence depends on the nearness and presence of God. – Meister Eckhart
When fear is everywhere,
take a breath.
Remind yourself that
as real as the fear feels,
it is a passing storm.
You can see it but
you don’t belong to it.
Remember that you are not the weather.
You are the sky.
We can choose to be blown away
and knocked off our feet…
or we can choose
to have the compassionate and wise view from above.
We can be observant
while holding on to
who we really are.
Only by holding fast to the good in us –
our expansive being –
can we truly be helpful
or even present.
So, keep your eyes open
while patiently riding it out.
Don’t allow yourself to get knocked over
or sucked into the whirlwind.
Be ever-present and calm
just like the blue sky
which endures every storm.
Copyright© Cynthia Cady Stanton, March 2020
“I am the sky. Everything else is just the weather.” – Pema Chodron
The weight is heavy –
this boulder on top of you.
It came out of nowhere!
You are stuck.
Never before have you felt such a hard, unrelenting blockage.
This rock is cold.
This pain is real.
It is time to hunker down
and see who is with you –
to be reminded that you are not alone.
Your roots reach to touch others
who share your dilemma,
your pain.
As the seeds within you
fight for survival,
you dare to stretch.
You find another.
Together, your reach is stronger.
Together, you find a community –
one that works together
to search the cold surfaces
to find the cracks.
For, no matter how hard the rock is,
it is no match
for the faith of a community
that seeks the light.
Your strength is in knowing that
the light is always there.
It cannot be extinguished –
no matter how big or daunting
the rock is.
Therefore, bloom!
Do not give up.
Reach for the light together.
Crack that rock apart
and let the strength within
spring forth!
You have it in you –
for you were born to find the light.
Copyright© Cynthia Cady Stanton, 2020
The deeper I go
into understanding all
that is,
the more
I appreciate this
gift of life.
Working with the dying
is a visual lesson
of the peeling away of
the layers.
It is also a heart lesson.
For when the exterior is finished,
what is left?
This is the ever-present question.
To live from heart and soul,
and to avoid the outward distractions,
means to leave
your presence and love behind
when the body is gone.
So, I am learning the lessons
of letting go now.
I let go of everything
that is not connected to Truth and Love.
Because when my body is gone,
I want those who knew me
to know that my love was real
and that I lived with an open
and generous heart.
For it is the Love that lies beneath
that lingers after we leave.
This is the miracle of
eternal life.
We live on in the hearts of others
and in the memory of time.
Copyright© Cynthia Cady Stanton, 2019
Whether the writer or the reader,
the words given
are light for the road.
They spring from that fountain
that intends to nourish and cleanse.
The soul speaks,
the heart listens,
and the self awakens –
as it surprisingly
lets go of itself.
And that which seemed only for the few
is found.
Copyright© Cynthia Cady Stanton, 2019
Be watchful in the weather
of life,
for as your experiences show up,
their effect can either dampen and chill you,
or bless you with warm peace.
So much depends
on where you stand at the time
and if you are awake
or not.
Your life can be a challenge –
that is true.
And also the point.
For the challenges teach
and also preach
if we are present in the pew
and looking upward and inward
for understanding.
Be watchful for the weather of truth
which will come and go
like the wind which
gives us waves to ride
until we learn
how to balance on them.
And when we are ready to ride,
having built up our core,
the rain of grace
will shower down upon us,
gently cleansing us
with new realizations
of what is true.
And in this baptism of insight,
we are made new again
by the healing that
has finally arrived.
Copyright© Cynthia Cady Stanton, 2019
There is an urgency within
which pulls at my skin,
leading me forth
into the mysterious newness ahead.
I’ve been germinating.
The rest allowed has given
the necessary space and freedom
to review the landscapes –
and offer each
to be placed into the heart of God.
Sure, there are mixed feelings attached.
But each place travelled
has provided the necessary nutrition
for the current unfolding.
I have found that
the more I let go and allow for
a larger view of things,
the more freedom there is
for my unique soul
to be connected to
God and my true belonging.
This lightens –
and allows for the reach up and out.
There really are no problems!
It is counter-intuitive, in a way –
but the more I let go,
the more I can be present for others
and actually be helpful –
be present.
So, I choose to be here –
as rocky as the ground can be…
I choose joy.
I choose love.
I live gratefully.
And when the memory of this lapses,
I forgive the pull of distraction,
and begin again.
We can always start over.
This is the beauty of
learning self-transformation.
God is the focus.
Not me.
There is always hope
and healing is here.
Copyright© Cynthia Cady Stanton, 2019
The presence of God needs to fill the space where you seem to be for healing to happen.
–Dr. Thomas Hora
Ask yourself, who would I be if there were no problem?
-Tara Brach
You see, to live
one must do these things:
like a bird about to take flight,
one must believe it is possible –
that our wings can be trusted.
When happy, allow it to be!
Share your happy face and glow
as created to do so.
When sad, embrace being seen as sad –
and surrender to the hug of compassion
packaged in sweet understanding and growth.
The struggles will come and go.
The secret is to surf the highs and lows
and learn to fall gracefully
and repeatedly.
There will always follow
chances to rise up again courageously.
We are here to love.
It is that simple –
and, also that complicated.
For most of us have learned
to turn away from the divine imprint
which shows us how to love
and accept our differences.
Remember that the journey of grace
is more inward
than outward.
We lose our layers of skin
and find peace in the presence
of this one moment.
We discover a deeper belonging.
We understand that we already have it all.
This is the amazing glimpse that,
when captured,
enables us to be the beautiful souls we are.
We can let go.
We can be free.
We can choose joy.
Copyright©Cynthia Cady Stanton, 2019
“Strange as it may seem today to say, the aim of life is to live, and to live means to be aware, joyously, drunkenly, serenely, divinely aware.” – Henry Miller
Becoming and Beholding 