Moses and the Burning Bush

As I laid in bed one morning I looked at this humble little bush outside my window.  It is truly that...humble and nothing really beautiful to look at, not shapely, not filled with vibrant autumn colors...just a simple, unshapely, nondescript bush.  And yet somehow it showed me itself like the burning bush in the stories of Moses I remembered so vividly as a child.  It sort of struck me somewhere deep inside in a way that I recognized that familiar foreshadowing of insights to come.  

Fast-forward to inner guidance to stop in at a vintage clothing shop after yoga on a Monday morning.  As I wandered around looking at the clothes and things from the past the girl working the floor walked up, sort of stopped and then said, "You gave me a reading at New Age People...it's so weird that you came in today.  I have been really drawn to Moses lately."  I reassured her that, no, it wasn't weird at all and her Moses comment struck that chord of deep knowing inside my heart.  I purchased a new red sweater and a little black knit sweater-dress with dark red accents at the top and went out to my car, feeling the presence of Moses with me.

His message didn't come right away in its fullness.  Messages never do.  

He showed me his story, you know, the one of being placed in the water to be kept safe; the one of coming from Egypt; the one of being different and communing with God when no one understood what was really happening; the one of leaving everything he was familiar with and that he called home to follow his destiny; the one of leading his people for 40 years through the desert to a Promised Land; the one of living a life of trust.  Yeah, that one.  It resonates deeply.

***

I know that we are never alone in our times of transition and alchemy.  Those waves of emotion we are experiencing... we can find comfort in the fact that others are feeling those same waves just a little further out in the water.  

***

Within the journey through the desert, where everything we don't need is left aside so as not to hinder our progress, there is that aspect of needing to live a life of trust...to know that somewhere on the other side there is Promise.

***

That bush burned in the desert for Moses yet it was not consumed by the fire, and there was a Voice of Wisdom that emanated from it...in the same way our passions and desires burn inside of us and fuel our momentum into our destinies.  We must live IN them, each moment, and yet not be consumed to ash by them.  The challenges of living a life on fire and following that Voice of Wisdom that burns in our very hearts and souls...

***

The people did not want to leave all that was familiar to them, even if it was filled with hardships and difficulty...it was familiar hardship and they had learned to deal with it over the years...so they sort of went kicking and screaming.  How many times do we do that?  We forget somehow that there is something better waiting for us, something that we can't even quite imagine and fight our way to it, trying to hold on to the past and to what we thought we were going to do or be.

***

Through all of this, Moses said, he was certainly not perfect.  He told me he was actually a High Priest of Ptah, that God of creating the world...imagining the way he wants it and setting about making it happen by the power of his voice and his thoughts and words.  We are all creators of our lives and we create what it is we think about.  So what is it that you really want in your life?  Is it to struggle?  To stay silent?  To pretend everything is okay when you feel like you are dying inside?  Probably not.

You deserve a life of love and laughter, passion and optimism, hope and happiness, succulence and pleasure, inspiration and creativity.  What is it that you really want in your life?  Create it.  Go out into that desert, even if it is kicking and screaming, and find it.  It might not be easy along the way but it will be worth it.

Look to what lies ahead for you in that Promised Land...that place that flows with milk and honey...that place that you may not even be able to imagine right now...but trust that it is there waiting for you.  

The poet Rumi once said, "What you seek is seeking you."  I love the Promise in that...Your Promised Land is seeking you right back.

If Moses could trust for 40 years you can trust as he did...one moment at a time, one breath at a time, one small step at a time.   The possibilities are endless.

Staying Connected and Grounded

Another place to find connection and grounding for me, surprisingly, is near the water.  I am a true "landlubber" but the beauty of the water has pulled me in and I find myself longing to be near it, to float along on top of it, and to feel it on my skin.  Photography, if you haven't noticed, is a pasttime of mine that brings me to a place of connection and grounding as well.  Seeing all of nature as Neter...the Divine.

Staying connected and grounded is a matter of immersing yourself in things you love and soaking up all that you love about it in that moment...the sights, the smells, the sounds and the way it touches your heart.  It comes by knowing that you have been led to this special place within yourself by the Universe.

Being in these spaces fills you with gratitude and helps you get through the toughest times as well as brings you to the best of times.  May your hearts find connection and grounding within the things you love.

Share with me some of the ways you stay connected and grounded in the comments below...I love to hear your stories!