Face aglow, an Oriental woman is striding toward me, grabbing my arm, and pointing to the towering red cliffs glowing in the sunset. We are strangers sharing a moment of awe and wonder. In the presence of beauty, far away from the distractions of a digital world, strangers become friends. Even if we speak different languages our souls have connected on the natural bridge of shared awe and wonder.
This morning I am hiking along the river, deep in the heart of the Canyon. People are smiling at each other, holding hands, snapping photos. Even the elderly seem invigorated!
This is my routine, before and after work, to soak in the rich beauty of this national park. The Shepherd has made me lie down in green pastures. All this beauty restores my soul.
My co-workers and I live together, work together, and eat together. We solve problems together. We share each other's burdens. I remember a Scripture verse that says fulfilling the law is as simple as carrying one another's burdens. How often do we really fulfill this law, I wonder, in a modern world that can be quite fractured, divisional, and impersonal.
A young man catches up to me as I walk back to our shared living quarters, among 40 other souls. He's a rare being, IQ in the stratosphere. A walking encyclopedia, but with so much compassion and no hidden agenda. He's a Native American from North Dakota, but you would never guess by looking at him, for he's also a rare albino. His soul radiates purity even as his creamy white hair and skin make him rare, and also vulnerable..
I listen to his stories of home, how his people understand and accept him for who he is. They get him. Understanding is the foundation of True Love. How can we truly understand each other if we don't stop to listen to each other's stories? To really listen and not judge!
Then there's a young gal, first time away from home, who is nearly an identical twin to my own spunky and wise granddaughter. She's a bright ray of sunshine, invigorating me in such a way that I feel like dancing at work. We all dance and sing at work, in fact!
A beautiful woman, a little older than me, well educated and well groomed, loves her job but is leaving because it's her dream to visit all of the National Parks and working at them allows her to travel at someone else's expense. Smart.
She said to me, "I can't live my life based on money. I have to follow my dreams!" I've never seen a happier person! Why wait till retirement to travel and enjoy life? I could listen to this woman's wisdom all day long!
A grandmother sits across from me in the dining room, regaling us with stories worthy of publishing, of her many grandchildren. I can feel the character of her whole family as she leaves us in tears laughing, but also remembering the lessons… like when her 10-year old grandson witnessed a child being bullied at school. He stood up to the bully saying, "If you hurt ___, you're hurting me. Stop!" The bully not only stopped but he turned around and stopped being a bully. The bullied child became one of the most popular kids, that year!
The power of ONE! We all make a difference in the world every day, bringing more love and hope, joy and peace…. or not.
Two more tearful good-byes today. One, a young Taiwanese man… who kept exclaiming my name. And hugging me! Like, a LOT! Then there's the precious petite girl who trained me with so much love, radical love, wept along with me in saying our good-byes. I have learned more about Taiwanese people than I could ever had learned in a book at school!
Taiwanese are exquisitely beautiful people, kind and loving! They cherish and honor each other, even strangers. They work extremely hard, are faithful and committed to their jobs. Their playfulness is contagious!
Perhaps there would be more Love in the world if we all traveled to each other's countries and lived and worked and ate together more often! Oh, and did I forget to mention all the dancing and singing? 🙂
Unity. The power of living, being, and working as ONE! I LOVE IT!
It makes me wonder if society's current way of living is too fragmented. We go to church but we don't always know our pew-mates outside of the walls of the church. We go to work, but we don't really know our co-workers intimately. We live in neighborhoods but rarely do we really know our neighbors beyond an occasional howdy-do in the driveway or an annual picnic.
We live in a world of lonely people. Loneliness is a disease that can be healed with no financial expense.
Not necessarily a love where a bunch of church members hit the streets to "evangelize" or even to pray for strangers. I'm thinking of a deeper love, a love that sits down to listen to someone's stories, to really get to know someone, which leads to understanding. A love that is playful, makes people laugh!
It really all goes back to my dreams, long ago, while living in the suburbs of Chicagoland.
I used to ponder how we all lived in boxes, so separate from each other. Neighbors being afraid of one another. Cultural wars. Gang violence. Every yard having its own pool, its own play equipment, its own tools, etc. I knew something was wrong at the core, but I didn't know how to fix it, so I spent more and more time in Church. Doing ministry. More and more ministry. That didn't really do anything except make our church attendance grow.
I began to dream a new dream. It began with asking questions: Why not share? Why not live a little more communally? Why not risk intimacy???
I used to dream of having my own private living quarters, sharing meals, sharing housing, and everyone really knowing each other within the community. Not a commune, oh no! Not a faith community, heck no! Just people living, working, and eating together… living in intimacy, peace, and healing each other's souls in the context of honoring and appreciating Nature.
Well, I guess my dreaming came true. And I know the dreams I shared this past weekend will come true, as well. I love this soul quest.
Your dreams, your thoughts, your voice is more powerful than you may know! "Life is but a dream…" is quite true. What you see manifested in your life today is a product of yesterday's dreamtime. Creation is our lifetime masterpiece, co-authored with the Creator himself, who gave us the authority to operate in this world in His Name. "Take every thought captive…." is good advice. I wish I had done so sooner!
If you want to know how to travel on a soul quest, yourself, to live close to nature and explore the world, let me know and I can direct you to some resources that can help you on your own soul quest!
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With love,
White Dove
Hi, I’m White Dove. Yes, it’s my pen name, and it was given to me by a blind man who shyly whispered it to me in a Divine encounter. Yes, it’s my real picture… just an ordinary selfie.
I live with my family in the mountains, surrounded by ancient forests, pure streams, and mighty rivers… but I also travel quite a bit.
My kingdom career is a Heart Scribe. I love to write from God’s heart and have been recording His living Word for the past three decades. It’s brought me so much beauty, joy, peace, and happiness!
I love to inspire trauma survivors to write their life stories, unearthing the treasures of their past and sowing them into the future. We dip our pens in blood and write the pain away… as God has shown me how to do, in the company of supportive friends and family. We are writing ourselves into a better world, beginning with discovering our own original design recorded in the DNA of our soul, and it’s the most exciting place to be!
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{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }
I feel the rich connection of people, one to another, flowing from your words. The bustle and happiness of being part of a community, kind of a Christmas feeling, "peace on earth, good will towards (everyone)."
“… a kind of Christmas feeling….” that is an interesting way of looking at it, yes!
Thank you, Susan, for reading and sharing, because you have incredible insights, even from a distance.
Being part of a community is important to me, maybe not to everyone, but what seems to be emerging is an engagement of desire and manifestation.
I truly wish this for everyone, however and wherever they choose to live… that their dreams, hopes and desires merge into their current reality!
I love it when what I write is echoed back to me in someone else's post on social media. Ron Wright has this to say today: