Gazing in the Mirror

November 21 - Finding That Shine

How do you pick up the threads
of an old life? How do you go on,
when in your heart you begin to
understand: there is no going back?
There are some things that time
cannot mend; some hurts that go
too deep, that have taken hold.
~ JRR Tolkien,
The Return of the King, from
the Lord of the Rings trilogy

The work of the practitioner is to
mentally uncover this ever-present
Reality, this Changeless and eternal
Perfection.
~ Ernest Holmes

I went to check in on an old friend that I had not seen since marrying and moving away from the city she lives in. I have known her since she was a teenager. Life has been decidedly hard for her but she doesn't complain even when acknowledging less than happy circumstances such has being close to losing the "home" that I have known longer than I've known her. I knew her now deceased husband who lived there first, even before he decided to marry her and I had walked alongside her for many moons – through the birth of her child, the end of her marriage and other trying and challenging circumstances.

It was with a heavy heart that I heard her tale of having been brutally raped in her home by a "known" assailant. The pins had only recently come out of her wrist not long before I saw her – the unfortunate event had taken place only a couple of months before I thought to visit her. It was the big lovable dog, Levi, at her feet – a reminder of her step-son now also deceased that brought the story out of her. There was no doubt in her mind of a non-judgmental hearing of it by me. There was a sense that I might lend an unexpected perspective to it all. It was a totally intimate sharing.

We discussed how different expressions feel different – to admit to being the victim of a sexual attack rather than the victim of a rape. Certainly the basic definition – "the unlawful compelling of a person through physical force to have sexual intercourse" – fit the circumstances but other uses of the word "rape" that reflect abusive or improper treatment or to plunder or pillage, to despoil or ruin, seem to affect the inner response when "admitting" to being caught off one's guard which was the case with her. There had been a previous hint to warn her when she had allowed him shelter under her roof and he was subsequently put out of her home for inappropriate advances. However, she had not seen him for some length of time and had no reason to believe he ever thought of her. She is not "unaware" as a woman living alone in an urban neighborhood to take precautions but that day she didn't sense any danger and allowed him to come in to her home.

We talked gently with one another acknowledging the reality that over a woman's lifetime she is likely to experience at the least one less than pleasant interaction of a sexual nature. The struggle within one's emotions because participation in sexual interactions is a part of adult life. Understanding the contrast in the emotional tone of willing experience versus such a harsh memory can be a tricky balancing act. Surprising for me was the strength of various energetic currents operating around me that I was picking up on from within myself and I was dancing furiously among the unpleasant murmurings like a prize fighter in a ring. A thought would arise unbidden, from where I did not know. That house is likely haunted by more than a few that have become attached and can't find the door out. What else does a metaphysician do for a friend, even as the practitioner sits deflecting consciously and intentionally these swirling currents, dissolving them by the subtle force of silent internal affirmations based upon more positive alternative interpretations ?

Ernest Holmes describes healing as a revelation. One of the methods I used as a healing presence with my friend was in knowing that at the center of her essence there is an absolutely perfect Life, a complete Wholeness and a deathless Presence. Time and again the place that I was called to work from was within my own mind – to believe, to understand and to accept that Perfect and Spiritual Nature in my friend and surrounding her. And all of that took place within the context of a friendly and loving discussion between two friends about a reality that neither of us could change but for which a context to "make sense" out of the senseless was needed and could bring empowerment within the self. Before I left she hugged me fully 3 times. It was as though the need for strengthening and purifying energy was that great and that appreciated in my willingness to give without withhold or resistance.

Ernest Holmes illustrates his thoughts with a story – "Suppose we were told that a beautiful diamond ring lay at the bottom of a trunk filled with rubbish and that it was to be ours when we should succeed in uncovering it. Should we care very much what method we used to remove the rubbish ? The main thing would be to find the diamond. We should feel justified in using any method which would enable us to do this. This is equally true in spiritual mind healing. We must uncover the Perfect man; we must remove every obstruction of thought which denies His Presence."

~ perspective

I am aware of the fleeting
thought passing through my
mind from where it comes it
seems not really important.
I do not consider the passing
of thoughts through my own
mind to necessarily reflect my
feelings or judgments of another
person or regarding a certain
set of circumstances.
I know the healing power of love
and the worthiness of every person
to feel love clearly.
While I regret deeply that man
commits inhumanities towards their
fellow being, I try to remain open and
receptive to the possibilities of perfect
healing as always co-existent.
My entire intention and loving concern
is always that the highest good be
revealed.

#challenges #emotion #energy #family #healing #perfection #rape #strength #victim #women