Alt comparative religion & Chronic Dx thread

[creekfeet]

Yes, it's a rough change. But then it's not the first in my life. When I first became a mom I shifted suddenly from being very involved in co-creating and participating in group rituals, to having to find the sacred in the act of changing diapers. Every ritual was part nursing and part napping and maybe a little bit of conscious spirituality wedged in, but it was all sacred.

Then came the fun times when the kids were big enough to participate in creating and celebrating holiday events. Those were the best times. Maybe not as fancy as the days when my girlfriends and I brought rich symbolism and art, poetry and our brightest silk clothes together to a beach or mountain meadow to create a bit of uplifting pageantry magic, but so heartfelt, those days when the circle formed around the children.

Now and then we joined in community rituals, a circle with some neighbors or a big community ritual at a community center, and those were nice reminders that we were connected.

Then the kids and I all got sick and I suppose it's just another change, another adjustment, but now the moments of feeling spiritually uplifted come at random and pass quickly as a mourning dove's flight or a spectacular desert sunset. Still beautiful, but so ephemeral, and maybe thus most succinctly symbolic of all phases.

 

[starryeyes]

Creek, when I read about you and your children all becoming sick, that just breaks my heart. I'm able to learn a lot from you by seeing how you are accepting it.

I do what Denn said. I take what works for me from various religions and holidays and leave the rest. It's my relationship with sacred energy that matters most to me and how I choose to acknowledge it and relate to it is ever-changing and free-flowing.

Spirituality can flower indefinitely if you let it.

 

[Denn]

Creek, when I read about you and your children all becoming sick, that just breaks my heart. I'm able to learn a lot from you by seeing how you are accepting it.

...I take what works for me from various religions and holidays and leave the rest. It's my relationship with sacred energy that matters most to me and how I choose to acknowledge it and relate to it is ever-changing and free-flowing.

Spirituality can flower indefinitely if you let it.

Beautifully said, teejkay. I am reading this first thing this morning and needed the uplifting inspiration you provide. Absolutely! Spirituality can flower indefinitely if you let it. That is the key! Yes, and that is accomplished exactly as you say, through your ever evolving relationship with spirit. Nicely said!!

Creekfeet: I still think you must be part Creek.

Then the kids and I all got sick and I suppose it's just another change, another adjustment, but now the moments of feeling spiritually uplifted come at random and pass quickly as a mourning dove's flight or a spectacular desert sunset. Still beautiful, but so ephemeral, and maybe thus most succinctly symbolic of all phases.

So poetic and indicative of someone who communes in a knowing way with the Earth spirits. A beautiful, haunting description of life.

Beautiful evocations. Thanks to you both, I am deeply moved.

Snuggles,
Denn

 

[MEKoan]

You are wise and wonderful people!

To live life with grace and gratitude is the most beautiful expression of faith.

You are doing that.

Peace In,
k

 

[starryeyes]

I'm enjoying reading everyone's posts here in this thread. Thank you all for sharing your incredible insights.

 

[Denn]

To live life with grace and gratitude is the most beautiful expression of faith.

You are doing that.

Peace In,
k

Thank you, Koan! We are all learning at your feet.

I'm enjoying reading everyone's posts here in this thread. Thank you all for sharing your incredible insights.

Thank you, teejkay, for your beautiful lines. So well expressed.

One of the wonderful things about the Forums is this freedom to express our deepest feelings and perceptions. Thanks and blessings to all for sharing yourselves. It is a very special thing and makes my life so much better!

Love,
Denn

 

[creekfeet]

Thanks. I don't feel at all brave or accepting though I've been complimented on both bravery and acceptance. I spend plenty of time raging against it, but it doesn't seem to help. Truly, the most energizing things so far have been love and socks.

 

[gracenote]

Love and socks make the world go round.

 

[Denn]

Love and socks make the world go round.

Amen to that!!! :Retro tongue:

 

[creekfeet]

Happy Vernal Equinox, everyone. I hope the equinox rocks your socks.

 

[MEKoan]

During sock burning, try to stay downwind Pungent rite fans flames of spring fever

March 21, 1997|By Dan Thanh Dang | Dan Thanh Dang,SUN STAFF

In the seafaring enclave of Eastport, there's nothing quite like the pungent odor of feet to welcome in spring.

Here, in this tiny community of Annapolis, where building boats is as natural as breathing, the saltiest of sea dogs meet each year on the Vernal Equinox in a low-key, snub-your-nose-at-the-cold ceremony to torch their winter socks.

And so they gathered -- these sailors big and small, male and female -- yesterday evening in the back lot of the Eastport Yacht Club amid dinghys and sailboats and powerboats galore. With dTC each toss of a foot warmer into the open flames, each person vowed to go sockless for the next nine months until the first day of winter.

 

[Denn]

Whew, thanks for that one Koan (I think) :mask:

Happy Vernal Equinox!!! & Happy Easter

I hope the Easter bunny brings each one of you something special and dear to your heart!


Also, I would like to invite all posters and readers of this thread to check out the Chasse au Tresor group. It was founded and is run by CJB. We try to explore the far and wide avenues of life in the chronic lane. There are no limits...

We hope to be a positive force for change.

Blessings to all,
Denn

 

[creekfeet]

Hooray for the shedding of the socks!

Chasse au Tresor, eh? Sounds interesting. And now to hunt for it. How do we find and join groups, anyhow?

 

[CJB]

Whew, thanks for that one Koan (I think) :mask:

Happy Vernal Equinox!!! & Happy Easter

I hope the Easter bunny brings each one of you something special and dear to your heart!


Also, I would like to invite all posters and readers of this thread to check out the Chasse au Tresor group. It was founded and is run by CJB. We try to explore the far and wide avenues of life in the chronic lane. There are no limits...

We hope to be a positive force for change.

Blessings to all,
Denn

I was just logging out of here for the night and noticed the emoticon you used -- smiley with face mask.

SO, I'm forced to nominate this post for

BEST USE OF A SELDOM-USED SMILEY AWARD

Good work, Denn. Cracks me up.

 

[Denn]

:Thanks, CJ, but I must humbly bow to the many true masters of the emoticon in the Forums. However, I am deeply honored by this award!

Denn

 

[Sunday]

This thread is getting emotional - or emoticontional -tends to happen when you bring up the spiritual. And burn all those socks. Koan, I don't know if that clip is factual or an invention of your own fertile mind, but it's a powerful image (or scentage).

Thanks for the reminder about Chasse au Tresor. I love these noncombative spiritual threads, because for me the real value in this disease is the spiritual gain. Like some of you, I get my spiritual juice from nature. While I'm lucky enough to live in a place where I can step out my front door and be in it, I can no longer go for walks or do elaborate rituals. But it says somewhere in the I Ching that, if you are sincere, even the simplest ritual will suffice. I find that having done that kind of spiritual communion literally allows me to do ritual or communion in my imagination, lying on a couch in brain fog, nausea, and exhaustion. The grooves are worn, as it were, and in a weird way I find CFS to be an excellent launching pad for journeys into other worlds.

I hope to regain health, but not lose this.

 

[Denn]

This thread is getting emotional - or emoticontional -tends to happen when you bring up the spiritual. And burn all those socks. Koan, I don't know if that clip is factual or an invention of your own fertile mind, but it's a powerful image (or scentage).

Thanks for the reminder about Chasse au Tresor. I love these noncombative spiritual threads, because for me the real value in this disease is the spiritual gain. Like some of you, I get my spiritual juice from nature. While I'm lucky enough to live in a place where I can step out my front door and be in it, I can no longer go for walks or do elaborate rituals. But it says somewhere in the I Ching that, if you are sincere, even the simplest ritual will suffice. I find that having done that kind of spiritual communion literally allows me to do ritual or communion in my imagination, lying on a couch in brain fog, nausea, and exhaustion. The grooves are worn, as it were, and in a weird way I find CFS to be an excellent launching pad for journeys into other worlds.

I hope to regain health, but not lose this.

This is a great post, Sunday!! If you are inclined, it would be really wonderful if you would start a thread in CaT using this post. You touched on so many core issues...

Blessings,
Denn