Intertwining Soul-Strands
BEING IN A RELATIONSHIP IS OUR MOST valuable spiritual workshop. Relationships are the threads whith which God weaves our earthly world, and the ways we care for and communicate with ourselves and each other create the patterns for our lives.
When we intertwine our soul-strands with others, we are brought face to face with our deepest fears and and our hightest aspirations. We are catapulted to towering heights and dragged to numbing depths, all in the service of soul.
I will admit that, on occasion, I have thought that a simple, solitary spiritual path would be just dandy. Leave me alone, and I'll come home to God wagging - not dragging - my tail behind me. But, in reality, we are relational beings who want and need to be connected to others in meaningful ways, no matter what joys and sorrows are involved. Allowing ourselves to intertwine soul strands provides us with ample opportunities to love and be loved, and love is the path to spirit.(footnote 1 - I can't find the footnote symbol on my keyboard LOL)
"And remember, we all stumble, every one of us. That's why it's a comfort to go hand in hand"
by E.K. Brough
I loved this reading today and wanted to share it with my loved ones; however I wanted a scripture that was dear to me that went hand in hand with this simple thought and I remembered a time that made me smile.
Those of you who knew me in my early teens one summer after summer camp, we spent our time mastering "penny offs" (wasn't that what they were called?) on a swingset that we had removed the swings because we didn't have the gymnastic equipment, I kept quoted one scripture that summer that impressed me and I am sure those who remember will roll their eyes because I was like a broken record. LOL! Anyhow; It was Paul's letter to the Ephesians; the 29th verse of the 4th chapter and it warned us against speaking nothing that doesn't encourage one another. (Paul didn't know about the double negative rule) Regardless, It is one scripture that I have tried to keep as a goal and allow it to define my personality.
It came in very handy yesterday. Mike and I got into a terrible misunderstanding and It actually started the night before but my silent treatment wasn't over until yesterday morning. We both were hurting terrible and confused about the over reactions of the other. I want to tell the story without exploiting our personal woundedness details ,so I will just drive home to the finished point: We found one thing that helped us heal and overcome. "face to face, shameless, caring, love"
When we love one another through misunderstandings and help the other to notice where our over reaction could be a place that needs to heal, lovingly (without critisism or rage or shame of exposure) hold the other ones hand and walk them through it. It's hard to grow if you don't feel safe with one another, holding a critical tongue in check helps to create that safe place. Don't get me wrong, we don't fight fair allot and have to remind one another however, the love always prevails and that is when we heal one another. Yay!
It was kinda cool how my daily meditation reading went hand and hand with the event and I had to share. Hope it sparked your spirit too! Hugs and Kisses!
Footnote 1: "The woman's book of soul" by Sue Patton Thoele
