We are in the season of shaking off the old, shedding the past, and releasing our baggage.  We are in the season of the power that we call renunciation.  The poet Rainer Maria Rilke said, “Lord, it is time.  The summer was very big.  [But] lay thy shadow on the sundials, and on the meadows let the winds go loose.  Command the last fruits that they shall be full; give them another two more southerly days, press them on to fulfillment and drive the last sweetiness into the heavenly wine.”

When we let go, we discover that we don’t lose anything at all.  When we let the chips fall as they may, we realize that the truth will be revealed.  We learn that our good comes from amazing new channels, from far corners and places that we could not have even anticipated.  And when the dust finally settles, we see that the resurrection that we needed was just waiting.  Poet John Muir says “The winds will blow their own freshness into you, and the storms their energy, while cares will drop away from you like the leaves of Autumn.”

Valentin wrote that “Summer is already better, but the best is autumn.   It is mature, reasonable and serious, it glows moderately and not frivolously … It cools down, clears up, makes you reasonable …”  A season of reasonableness gives us the clarity to see past the things that we have been struggling with, to press beyond whatever held us back, to let go so that we can gather our harvest, and turn over new leaves that will heal our souls.  A season of reasonableness if not simply for moving forward, but for slowing down, and listening.

The story of Noah is about listening.  If he was not listening, he would have been wiped out with every other living thing on the face of the earth.  Noah means release — rest in spiritual consciousness — letting go — so that God can bless us.  Genesis 7 teaches us that when the season of cleansing was upon Noah, he let go of whatever was not essential and loaded everything else on an ark.

The ideas that were important to keep — every aspect of them — the male and the female — they took with them — the whole idea with its ability to co-create.  The Bible says “Pairs of clean and unclean animals, of birds and of all creatures that move along the ground, male and female, came to Noah and entered the ark, as God had commanded Noah.”  And after they gathered the essential ideas around them — the pure ideas of being — and went within — they centered in the Spirit as the cleansing took place.  Physically, we see destruction; metaphysically, we see the cleansing energy of God.  When we are cleansed in the outer, we have to be girded in strength on the inner.

We grow through our autumns, our shedding of the past — our cleansing of the unnecessary — the things and the people and the situations that were not in accordance with our individual soul’s purpose.  The Bible says that rain fell upon the earth 40 days and 40 nights.  Metaphysically, 40 means as long as it takes.  Healing and releasing is a process.  Sometimes, we have to go through a process of release for years.  But regardless of how long it takes us to learn what we need to know, when we are ready, we are ready.  You see, it’s not the end result that matters as much as what we learn in the process.  A lot of times we think that we are learning one thing and when we look back, we were really learning another.  The Universe will give us the trials and the tribulations that are essential for our growth.

It’s kinda like the bed bug epidemic.  Undoubtedly, those pests are going to force millions of us to clean up our lives and get rid of the things that no longer served us.  Apparently, the imports from factories abroad have helped cause the infestation.  Hmmmmm.  What if Americans actually used Americans as labor?  That would drastically reduce our importation of bed bugs, as well as help the country’s unemployment statistics.  Hmmmmm.  If I get bedbugs as a bonus from the malls, it also makes me even more reluctant to buy what I don’t need.  Hmmmmm.  Maybe I need to clean up underneath the bed and in every crack and crevice anyway.

This is the season to surround ourselves with only what is essential.  The stuff that is not worthy of us needs to be cleansed by the flood.  This may not even be other people, it may be our thoughts.  Our own thoughts are harder to release than what we see in the flesh.  We don’t want to admit that there is some stuff in us that shouldn’t be allowed on the ark.  There’s some stuff in us that we need to give up.  Renunciation is our starting place.

In John 8:21, Jesus told the Pharisees “Where I go, you cannot come.”  There is a time in our lives when we have to tell those things and those thoughts and those people who no longer serve God’s good for us — NO, I don’t want you to come with me.  I’m really good doing this alone.  I’m going to a higher place.  Jesus told them: “You are from beneath; I am from above. You are of this world; I am not of this world.”

I am going to a higher place.

What you intended for evil — God meant for good.

There’s something better ahead.  I thought we were going to do this together but God has something better in store.  And I can do whatever it takes to get there — I can ride out the storm.  I can be blessed by the changes in the seasons.  I can be honored by a me that is fresh and empowered and prophetic with the cleansing energy of God.

I can release as many times as it takes — 77 times 7 — for as many days as it takes through as many rains as it takes — through as many leaves that have to fall and keep falling until my tree is bare and my heart has surrendered.

I can take my power back, and rise again — like a phoenix from the ashes because there is something good in store for me.

Namaste,

Reverend Cecilia Loving

Reverend Cecilia Loving is the spiritual leader of SPIRITMUV®, a trans-denominational church.  Spiritmuv transcends the confines of religion and teaches unconditional love for one another regardless of race, creed, culture, or religion.   At the heart of its teachings is what Jesus taught — that we love one another, as well as the community that Mahatma Ghandi inspired when he said, “I am a Christian and a Muslim and a Hindu and a Jew.”  Reverend Cecilia Loving is the founder and creator of Spiritmuv, which was formed in 2007.  Services are held for an hour every Sunday, from 2:30 P.M. to 3:30 P.M. at the Unity Center of NYC, located at 213 West 58th Street.

Rev. Loving, author of Prayers for Those Standing in the Edge of Greatness, is the sole owner, creator and administrator of God is a Brown Girl Too®, which holds annual retreats and workshops.  The next God is a Brown Girl Too Retreat will be held April 1-3, 2011, at the Mariandale Retreat and Conference Center.

None of the content herein may be copied or otherwise used except with Reverend Loving’s written permission.

Join the Spiritmuv  Community at www.Spiritmuv.ning.com for special postings by Rev. Loving.

GOD IS A BROWN GIRL TOO® 

“CREATING  BEYOND THE  BOX  OF CONVENTIONALITY ” RETREAT
will take place in the Spring of 2011
from April 1 at 5:00 P.M. through April 3 at 1:00 P.M. 

Don’t miss this wonderful opportunity to enjoy the peace, serenity and creative consciousness of a like-minded group of women of color at the Mariandale Retreat and Conference Center, located at 299 North Highland Avenue, in Ossining, New York.   All rooms are single and surrounded by the loving prayers of the Dominican Sisters who own the facility. 

 The cost of the entire weekend, including rooms, workshops and three delicious meals per day, is only $450.00.  There is a $100 discount for senior citizens, so seniors pay $350.00. 

 Registration has already begun at http://www.godisabrowngirltoo.com/or you can mail payment directly to God is a Brown Girl Too, 376 President Street Unit 2H, Brooklyn, New York 11231.  But act fast because rooms are sellling and there are now only 13 rooms left.