The Seven Whispers:Maintain Peace of Mind, Move at the Pace of Guidance, Practice certainty of purpose, Surrender to surprise, Ask for what you need and offer what you can, Love the folks in front of you….and finally the seventh: Return to the world.

Return to the world. Often in the church in particular, "the world" becomes equated with bad, evil, not-God-like. Christina Baldwin’s urging to "return to the world" is the exact opposite. She stakes a claim on our original blessings as God’s creations, creations placed in a beautiful and complex world that has much to offer and teach us – about the Holy. In returning to the world, we see the deeper patterns of creativity, the  birth, life, death, re-birth cylce of which we are all a part. In a return to the world we come to know the Mystery through which we were born and continue to be born again.

In the scriptures the Hebrew word that means "awe" is often translated as "fear". This has had unfortunate repercussions, I believe. Instead of "The awe of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom", we have learned fear. It is a very different place to begin and to end….awe or fear. Returning to the world can be our grounding in awe.

Outside my office window stands a huge oak tree. I am blessed to watch its birth, life, death and re-birth with each season. I learn the rhythm of the world through watching this tree. At this time of year, its branches bare, its knarled bark rough against the winter sky, it looks bold and strong in a way that it doesn’t when covered with leaves. At the very end of one long branch, squirrels have built a nest out of the leaves of this tree. I am in awe of the courage of these squirrels to place their young so far out on a limb. Over the next few months, I will watch the nest with expectation of what new life will ermerge. All new life comes from places of faith, trust, hope and courage. The tree and the squirrels are teaching me this.

Return to the world…Baldwin’s greatest intention in her small book is to remind us of the visible and invisible ways in which we are connected to one another and to the Holy. I hope that this simple introduction to her thoughts has moved you to a new intention in your own life. She ends a chapter with this affirming image:

"It has always been scary to step into the circle of firelight, to show up in the company of strangers, to ask for entrance or to offer it. Our hearts race-Will we have the courage to see each other? Will we have the courage to see the world? The risks we take in the twenty-first century are based on risks human beings took thousands of years ago. We are not different from our ancestors, they are still here, coded inside us. They are, I believe, cheering us on. "

I agree.

Namaste……..