on this day known as Nelson Mandela Day for the revolutionary activist born on this day 105 years ago, i’m reminded of the phrase, “the center cannot hold”, which whispers to me often in the light of the steady stream of tragic loss by natural disasters and violent actions… the center is not holding, as all around us we see in the outer world breakdown, collapse and disorder… we feel an undercurrent of insecurity leading to anxiety, many of us feel numb, some feel rage, what are we to do in this moment of deep disconnection?

i am reminded of the other side of that coin through the old Irish myth of when the center falls apart, the pieces don’t disappear, they move to the margins, to the edge of the circle… as pieces of the center now living on the edge, our task is to pick up a thread and weave our way back to the center, back to source, to great spirit along the road less traveled, the pathless path and when enough of us do this, a new world, a new consciousness is created, a world where we live in peace built by justice and informed by our inner journey into our one heart where we rest in the stillness and listen for the voice of wisdom…

when we return to the world to share what has been revealed, we make our sacred contribution in co-creating a world that works for all… no one being can solve our problems, it’s going to take our global village transforming consciousness with enough of us opening to source, finding our thread, our peace of the pie, what’s ours to do and then our coming back together to weave a center that holds where we stand together solidly built on a transformed consciousness with a solid foundation of unity…

~

Eagle Poem

To pray you open your whole self
To sky, to earth, to sun, to moon
To one whole voice that is you.
And know there is more
That you can’t see, can’t hear
Can’t know except in moments
Steadily growing, and in languages
That aren’t always sound but other
Circles of motion.
Like eagle that Sunday morning
Over Salt River. Circles in blue sky
In wind, swept our hearts clean
With sacred wings.
We see you, see ourselves and know
That we must take the utmost care
And kindness in all things.
Breathe in, knowing we are made of
All this, and breathe, knowing
We are truly blessed because we
Were born, and die soon, within a
True circle of motion,
Like eagle rounding out the morning
Inside us.
We pray that it will be done
In beauty.
In beauty.

~ Joy Harjo ~