We love you and support you on this journey

Friend Sarah lent me a book by this Missouri woman called “Mutant Message Down Under.” It’s a true story by Marlo Morgan of 4-month walkabout in Australia with an Aboriginal tribe. It’s a nice, short little novel full of spiritual observations and truisms of this tribe, called Real People. Kindof a modernized version of The Alchemist or The Prophet. A couple of lines stood out.

“We love you and support you on this journey.” Those are the first words a newborn hears and the last a dying person hears. They welcome you and bid you farewell with this statement of upmost support and compassion. How beautiful is that? Ritualistic sayings that our society has are unique in their own right, I guess, but do they really hold such deep meaning? From marriage vows to children’s night prayers, we have these sayings that are embedded in our life cycles, but how many of those are an all-encompassing and genuine as this one?

It reminds me of when we were kids and said a prayer every night before we went to bed. “Now I lay me down to sleep; I pray to the Lord my soul to keep. Guide me by the starry night; wake by the morning light.” Every night. No fail. Mom, usually, would come in as we said this, usually as fast as we could, slurring the words and phrases together. We became more entranced with how the syllables sounded running into one another and doing it all in one breath than the words we were actually saying. As we got older and started actually exploring the idea of “spirituality,” I think Chelsea and I both tried hard to make the words mean something. And they probably did. What daily words will I share with Julian? A prayer? A rhyme? A statement of unyielding compassion from some Aborigines? We shall see.

Another, more complicated concept in this book was this. “There should be no suffering by any creature except what they accept for themselves.” The author went through some mind-boggling challenges on her journey, most of which she never dreamed she would be able to overcome. But the only way she was able to come out on top during these episodes was to connect with this suffering. It’s very Buddhistic, this idea of embracing suffering, and I quite agree with it. To suffer is to be tested. The mere taking of the test indicates personal growth. You have to accept the test when you’re ready for it. Or face being perpetually stuck in that dread of what is to come. Yuck.

As I was recalling another passage I’d read to a friend the other day. Some years are for questions; some years are for answers. I’ve been quite vocal about last year being one of the former. This year is definitely one of the latter. I think it’s my year in the Chinese astrological sign. Holla, all you pigs out there.

I said I’d write about Ian and I getting out own, baby-less outing to the Greenbelt last week, but alas, I have run out of time before ANOTHER trip to the Greenbelt this morning. This time, Blythe and Julian will be my adventure mates. Mmmm. What a wonderful feeling…