ARTICLES AND NEWSLETTERS
The following articles and letters have been published in the SoulWorks Newsletters beginning in 1999. They are included here in the hopes that they offer inspiration and support along your transformational journey.
BE CAREFUL WHAT YOU PRAY FOR
Fall 2007
Sunset
by Rainer Maria Rilke, Enlgish by Robert Bly
Slowly the west reaches for clothes of new colors
which it passes to a row of ancient trees.
You look, and soon these two worlds both leave you,
one part climbs toward heaven, one sinks to earth,
leaving you, not really belonging to either,
not so helplessly dark as that house that is silent,
not so unswervingly given to the eternal as that thing
that turns to a star each night and climbs –
leaving you (it is impossible to untangle the threads)
your own life, timid and standing high and growing,
so that, sometimes blocked in, sometimes reaching out,
one moment your life is a stone in you, and the next, a star. |
Dear Friends,
Joy.
A while ago I started to wonder about the smallness of my life. A life I have loved fully. And yet. I started to think that I wanted to have a larger impact. I wanted to serve the beauty of nature and soul in some larger way than I have been. I wanted to hold overview for an organization. I imagined myself being an administrator.
Wait. WHAT???? What was I thinking? How could this be my calling??? Nevertheless, I prayed for it. On a piece of scrap paper I wrote my dream of a part-time job serving the Earth. I tucked it under a powerful icon on my altar. As this newsletter is titled ... “Be careful what you pray for.” It just might come true.
A week later, I heard myself burst forth to a Board of Directors: “I’m willing to step in. I would be willing to become an Interim Executive Director for Camps in Common & Feather River Camp.” Long story-short, I find my prayer being answered in the most surprising and unexpected way. I never imagined this is how it would play out. Not as a part time job, but as a full-time (plus) job.
Wow. That was fast. The universe works in mysterious ways and I am but a mere player! One thing I have learned in life is that Life has a plan and if I listen closely to my soul then the plan will actualize. By listening closely, my desires become one with that which is in my soul’s best interest. But boy-oh-boy does it take some getting out of the way! Because Life gives what you pray for, but not in the expected way. Sometimes it has been smaller than I imagined; other times, larger. It does not matter. In both cases I have been led to the most soul-fullfilling possibilities. And it takes getting out of the way to receive those possibilities.
So, now, here I am with a YIKES! ...the answer to this prayer is bigger than I ever imagined. I say YES to this answered prayer. I have done so before. Each time I have sincerely prayed to be given a task to serve, and by that I mean a mission, I have been given something different from what I thought I was asking for. This is the stretch Life gives me. It is a blessing and … yes, it is also a burden.
To serve my souls’ mission is ecstasy. Except when its not. Mostly it’s not when I fight it. Mostly its not when I am perfectionistic about how I do things. Mostly its not when I lose sight of the deeper meaning of the mission. And this, my friends, is the STRETCH! To remember.
To remember, in the flurry of activity, what this new job asks of me. This is my big stretch. To be able to take appropriate actions while keeping my feet on the earth and my heart in the real meaning of the job. At Feather River Camp, the possibilities are endless and I am honored to become the steward of hundreds of people – families, youth, underserved populations – and of an 84 year old camp on a 65-acre bit of land that takes your breath away and gives solace as well as joy. What an honor. My life is definitely no longer small.
There are details beyond details about this camp that I could share, but instead here is what I want to say: I am grateful for this crucible in which I find myself. I ask myself every day to be true to the mission of my soul as I serve the mission of this camp: Enriching lives through community in nature, promoting respect for the environment, cultural diversity and community. This is a big mission. A bigger impact indeed. Gulp!!
I am continuing to see SoulWorks clients in Oakland . This is nourishment for my soul while I am learning to turn administering to Camps in Common (the non profit operator of Feather River Camp) into my soulwork. I am also taking Earth Wisdom Retreats to Feather River Camp so that I am merging my most beloved ‘thing’ to do in the whole world with my new job. It doesn’t get much better than that!!
I invite you to join me there this July. The dates are set. The details will follow. The land will inform the process, as always. I will continue to send newsletters … merging SoulWorks news with Camps in Common news. So stay tuned. Keep your eyes open to see what comes into your box from Camps in Common….and please come visit the camp for a respite for your soul. Hope to see you there…
with love, Lily
