forgiveness

The Journey..... to New Dimensions Radio

For the last eleven years Justine Toms, Co-Founder and Managing Producer of New Dimensions Radio and I have sat as original members of The Millionth Circle. We have shared stories, laughed, cried, dreamed, listened deeply, sat in silence, been roommates in Barcelona, Spain and traveled to be in circle at the Chalice Well in Glastonbury England. And nothing was more fulfilling and joyful than being interviewed this past Friday for the May radio broadcast. 

New Dimensions has been around since the 70's when Justine and her husband Michael Toms began asking the question, what does it mean to be human and live in harmony?  It is a question with many twists and turns that leaves me asking even more questions of myself, and my relationship to this universe.  Over the decades the worlds leading-edge guest have included, everybody from Nobel Peace Prize winners to famous playwrights and the Dalai Lama, Maya Angelou, Joseph Campbell, Alice Walker, and Wangari Maathai, to name a very few. Each broadcast has held the listener in a place of reflection as words of emergence, transformation, awareness, inter-connection, possibilities, silence, consciousness... have penetrated our ears, and our hearts.

And so, as I read from my book - the funny chapter when the bug gets down my dress, I'm screaming, while the good folks think I've got the holy spirit....I had to pinch myself.  Here I was sitting across the table from this exquisite interviewer and gracious soul Justine, with the mic all attached and specific instructions about not moving or popping  my knuckles (something I do when I'm a little nervous). Yes, here I was being interviewed and realizing once again, 'had it not been for the JOURNEY,' I most likely would not be speaking these words of race, rage, religion, circle, healing, forgiveness...for world-wide radio.

And so, I say to you and you and you, keep pressing on, stay on the path, keep your dreams alive even when the load feels too heavy to push on.  Know that you are held in a circle of grace and you never know who you will meet, or what gentle being will ask you to share your lessons learned one day. You never know the Justine's in your life, that will partner with you to radiant your light!

You may find my interview here, on the front page for the next week!!

 

 

Ole Southern Healing

Images of the ole South played pitter patter with my mind, as I sat quietly holding the space this past weekend in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. There I was, the facilitator of this Board Retreat offering guidance, asking questions, playing music, reading poetry, eating together, holding hands, and only one other person's ethnicity was the same as mine. More than a few times, I looked around, felt my heart opening, and realized, "Things had changed."  

When I left the South in 1963, the images of mistreatment, prejudice, and discrimination traveled like worn luggage with me. Buried within, I licked my wounds and made a silent pledge to myself that I would never come back except to visit family.  More than a few times, my husband had jokingly inquired with curiosity, "Let's move to the South."  That's when my pledge was revealed, coated by an emotion deep inside me, as I responded, "Are you crazy? Never."  

But this weekend as we closed the circle, tears un-expectantly filled my eyes. I could feel ML King, those that had sacrificed their lives, and my own father smiling down on me with compassion and grace. Angry expressions worn with bitterness and outcry that, "I was second class'' were healed, as I looked upon the faces of these women. It was a moment I will never forget.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not naive. Racism still exist. While integration is in full bloom, I witnessed little evidence of integrated friendships or relationships.  African Americans jogged, walked the trails, ate red beans and rice, shopped, rode in automobiles, and attended church with other African Americans. But then, is this so different than other parts of the country? 

For a long time, I have believed, if you want FULL integration in your life, you must open yourself up to diversity in ways that challenge all your old stereotypes. If you want it, you must be open to a dialogue where myths and beliefs are flushed out into the open. You must be open to believe, we are all inter-connected. It is a humbling experience!

And for this time around, to every women who's eyes I glazed into...I appreciate the hugs and genuine acceptance that I felt; the welcome I received, peer to peer - equal. Yes, much has changed. And I suppose at the core, the change has also happened in me!