Welcome to this meditation,
Hope Rises.
To start,
Take a long deep breath in and slowly exhale.
Take a few more breaths as you close your eyes and settle in.
With every inhale and exhale,
Relax your body,
Clear your mind.
So you start this day and you find yourself in a small garden.
It is raining and you are standing amongst moist raindrops born from the sky overhead.
There is a heavy fog dampening your eyelids and you see barren branches.
This morning is dull and heavy,
However this is where you find hope.
The sky is hidden from sight but you feel the brightness rise within you.
Stillness is abundant and you experience a surprising lift.
You know all too well how you woke up within this gloomy dark place.
Thoughts of how and why circle you.
You move forward with uneasy and somewhat fearful steps but your hope grows.
The thick air that once enveloped you has dissipated.
The fog has lifted and what appears in the midst is a small inviting clearing,
A pathway that is barren of wood and brush.
Maybe this leads you to a place of refuge,
A place to put your trust within.
Yes,
An unexpected clearing that invites you and so your journey continues.
Once this journey continues you know you cannot stop it.
You hear the subtle singing of the hidden birds.
The musical notes resonate within your body and miraculously you move more freely.
You listen deeper and there is a surprising sound of calming waters.
You hear the flow of the water trickle over the rocks and the sound is reassuring to you and offers you a sense of tranquility,
Safety and peace.
Wisdom and understanding of the raindrops and the resulting circular ripples gives you with grace,
Forgiveness and renewed energy.
The air now grows abundant.
Transformation sprouts and strength is born.
Powerful strength.
Work grows and so does your vision.
So you walk forward and you stumble onto another pathway but this one is filled with boulders to climb,
Rocks to maneuver,
Mud to terrain through and slippery slopes.
You think of this long journey where exhaustion,
Turmoil,
Frustrations and disappointments have been encountered.
And as this day moves forward there is another clearing and it is filled with dandelions.
Green,
Tall whispering grass and beautiful pink flowers.
You bend down to smell the flowers and you notice hidden underneath the beauty are vines,
Thistles and prickly thorns.
You stand in the clearing and you understand the presence of the young beauty amidst the advanced beasts that are underground.
Both are present.
This indeed is the true gift of your journey.
Joy and happiness combined with pain and suffering.
Your travels of this day have given you wisdom to know the pain of the thorns and the feeling of relishing and the pleasure and delight of the delicate,
Soft,
Precious petals that reside.
You look up and you see the blue ever expansive sky.
You know full well that mysterious clouds could appear quickly and winds could grow from inconceivable and unannounced places for truly unknown reasons.
Sometimes there are no explanations.
When impatience nudges you,
Rocks your insides and buries your true realities.
Practice just that,
Patience.
Enduring through storms,
The strength to climb and the perseverance to endure.
Take a long deep breath in.
Just accept this moment.
May you choose hope,
Strength and live through all that life offers and understand that patience and hope will be on the other side or amongst the darkness that exists.
Choose to see the thorns and have wisdom of the thorns but choose also to see the beauty of your landscape.
And resistance to nothing and accept.
May your hope rise and I want to thank you for joining me in this meditation.
