4 am - clanging sounds coming from downstairs. My gut didn't clutch. I knew I was safe but I was curious about what was going on in the house. I figured Jamie our beloved four foot whom we adopted from the Animal Rescue League was running around although I'd never heard that pattern of sounds before.
Finally at 5, my husband and I went into the living room watching Jamie. She had retrieved a small tin foil ball from under the radiator. I said to her, "Really Jamie? Is that what all of this was about?" But she was in the zone not paying any attention to us. She stared at the baseboard of the radiator and she kept putting her paw underneath and through it. She was a cat on a mission for sure but we had no idea what she was after. I decided to go back to bed and Tom was going to get ready for work.
As I was about to head upstairs, and Tom into the kitchen to fix his coffee, she ran by Tom with a mouse in her mouth! She gave up the mouse to his hands and he tossed the mouse outside. She then went over and lay down in front of the radiator. In our 16 years of living in our home, we have never seen a mouse.
In May of 2001, my daughter's choir had a trip to New York City. We stayed in lower Manhattan and my kids wanted to visit the World Trade Center. I've been in the Empire State Building, the Statue of Liberty and never had any problem with being in closed buildings and going to the top to view the panoramic vista of New York. But as we stood in the lobby of the World Trade Center, my gut began to churn. I told my kids we couldn't go to the top or do anything else in this building. We had to get out and now.... When the towers were hit on 9/11, my daughter remembered that feeling I had.
Jamie could not see the mouse in the radiator baseboard because the slats are too small to get a visual cue of anything in there, but her animal instincts were on high alert. I loved the experience of being held in the wordlessness of the moment watching the unfolding of what was happening in the unseen world as Jamie was guided by her animal instincts.
How often do we sense something beyond what we can actually see. Do we have the courage to act on our instincts and allow our senses which tap into the mystery and wonder of it all to guide us? As I am getting older, and engaged in mindful practices, I am more open to embracing the mystic within myself, with others and be open to the amazing synchronicities that happen in my life.
In Priscilla Warner's book, "Learning to Breathe:My Yearlong Quest to Bring Calm To My Life," she writes
"But Mingyur {referring to Mingyur Rinpoche the monk who suffered from panic attacks whom she meets on a retreat early on in her journey} had warned us not to worry if our emotions became strong as a result of our meditation practice, or if we began to see and hear things that seemed unusual. I would remember his words when my life began to shift in eerie, powerful ways."
And just as I may not be able to see that mouse in the baseboard, I tune into what my heart and body need to continue to heal and recover--to move forward as a beautiful, graceful animal with great joy, freedom and celebration. I gotta feeling....
When No Words Are Needed from Seasons of the Soul now available on Amazon
As chanting monks serenade the work in the sacred space
no words are needed
seeing with inner sight
his healing hands explore the once ravaged landscape
as a beach metal detector scans to find hidden treasures
the wounds surface
no words are needed
to share the gory violent details
we work together as Divine Love flows
no words are needed
in silent meditation all that was hidden is made manifest
revealed to heal
touching sensations long buried beneath shame
lies that this wee one was undeserving of care
as my life was carelessly tossed and turned upside down
no words are needed
his hands speak volumes of Truth
as he moves with a knowing
palpating pain invisible to the naked eye
holding with the tenderness of a mother’s love
with each stroke the old wounds fade away
no words are needed
a different imprint on my heart
my body embodies and embraces new memories
no words are needed
eyes briefly meet
compassion overflows
healer and healed
healed and healer
no words are needed.
From my heart to yours
With total love and deepest gratitude,
Mary
MAY ALL BEINGS BE HAPPY AND FREE!
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