Soul Protection
Staffa, Scotland—photo by Susan Izard
Dear Soul Friends,
A great blue heron is circling in the sky as I sit at my desk listening to the birds usher in the new day. A doe and her fawn have just strolled across the meadow, enjoying the morning dew brush against their legs as they wander through the tall wetland grass. In the fair distance, a farmer is driving a tractor with a wagon behind it through the fields tending to the tasks of the day. Somehow, after a lifetime of living in cities, I am in the country, blessed by the gentle peace of earth and sky. Holy Presence is everywhere.
A few days before my mother died, I walked into her room, waking her from a deep sleep. She looked at me and some what crossly said, “Oh, you woke me. I was listening to the most beautiful music.” I apologized and suggested she try to go back to sleep. I felt it was best not to interrupt the process of her movement from this world to the next. Some years earlier, I presided at a funeral for a woman who also heard beautiful music as she was dying. It was lovely to know my mother heard it too. When I was a young child, she would tell me, “We are never alone. There is a Loving Presence that is always with us.”
We are united beings encircled in the wonder and power of a Loving Presence. We might see ourselves as separate or divided by our various roles and careers, but we are tied together by our souls. There was a time when I felt divided into four parts. I called them the four M’s: Motherhood, Ministry, Marriage, and Me. Now I know there is just one me, and soul is at my center, guiding and teaching me.
Thirteenth-century Christian mystic Mechthild of Magdeburg, wrote:
Lady Soul, you are so utterly formed to my nature
that not the slightest thing can come between you and me.
As you journey through your week, may you be blessed by moments of inner knowing and peace. May you be still and soak in the gift of summer beauty, and may you trust you are guided by a Loving Presence that unites us all.
Deep peace to you,
Susan
