Synchronicity brought me in contact with Carol Wiebe's art on her website and featured one of of her amazing quilts, Messengers, on my Subversive Stitchers blog. Her words that seek to explain the art made me pause and think:The messengers are gathering in prime formation: 2 butterflies, 3 dragonflies, 5 angels, 7 crows, 11 stars. To truly hear their message, you must kill the ego. Egos are wont to kill the messenger when they dislike the message they are receiving, but that is a useless tactic. The message will simply find you another way, through another messenger.What in the world does this mean?
Accompany that with the quote she included on the work itself -- "Think of yourself as an incandescent power, illuminated and perhaps forever talked to by God and his messengers." -- Brenda Ueland -- and my imagination was piqued.
Messengers?
My search for a topic for my next NANOWRIMO contest entry brought me on this quest. I did a Google search and came up with a long list of references to Islam. But that's not the direction I wanted to go for 50,000 words.
Another response to 'messages' was not what I expected: Jimi Hendrix! From his song May I Whisper in Your Ear? From the art here, "Stairway to Paradise" by Thomas Kincaid, I bet you were expecting Stairway to Heaven.... No it was Hendrix. May I whisper in your ear
from my heart so you’ll clearly hear...
May I take you away
from the evils of today
to the dreams of tomorrow.
You know that Heaven...
Has no sorrow.
You know that Heaven...
Has no tomorrow....
Here comes some news...
Coming down like lightning...
Straight for me and you.
People of destruction
your time is out of date...
People who’s living crooked,
better start getting straight. --Jimi Hendrix
Surprised at the lyrics from a rocker who was outside my modest taste in music, although I admired his abilities and talents and lamented his short life and enjoyed his version of the Star Spangled Banner, I never checked out the depths of the man....his lyrics surprised me. My youngest son saw him with clearer vision than I who lumped him in with 'devil music that will take you straight to hell.' A thought taught by my local church....
And then I clicked on another site and sat up in surprise.
In July, a Sommerville, Mass. resident opened his garden to anyone, invited them to leave messages. Not just any message. His ambition, a bit more cosmic perhaps, invites the sharing of deepest secrets - fears, joys, failures, goals - and leave them behind as an anonymous note, on a scrap of colored paper, to the universe. He agreed to respond to them.
Within 30 days he received 100; now more than 700 and he hopes to receive 1000 before the end of the year. He's established his website crossing the abyss to post his answers as well as the messages.
What messages has the universe tried to tell me? What have I ignored? Should have I acted upon the impulses that urged me to reach out to others, help, smile, share, console? All of those times that would have made me step out of my invisibility and become vulnerable, fearing rejection? Should I have been stronger? Were they as afraid as I? What if I had given more money, food, friendship? What would it have cost me and what would have been the rewards and where would it have all taken me? Paths not taken are certainly ripe for speculation based upon hindsight.
The idea of messengers in our lives intrigues me. I was raised on scripture and the concept of angels in our midst, but our particular sect focused more on social aspects of church and avoided the more mystical aspects of the religion. We celebrated communion, and all of the holy holidays of course. But the holy spirit, speaking in tongues, prophesying, angels, well, we just avoided those scriptures. So now I'm wondering what vital messages have I missed and is it too late?
What is the universe telling me today? I liked Kincaid's words that accompany this piece of art:
"In the most important ways, my life has been a progress. I have been blessed to see my love of painting grow and flourish, my relations with family and friends deepen and mature." — Thomas KinkadeGotten any messages lately? I think the one that was meant for me today came from John H. Rhoades:
Do moreAuthor: John H. RhoadesDo more than exist; live.
Do more than touch; feel.
Do more than look; observe.
Do more than read; absorb.
Do more than hear; listen.
Do more than listen; understand.
Do more than think; ponder.
Do more than talk; say something.
2 comments:
Dawn, I'm so glad the various "messages" on the quilt got your thinking processes churning. My main point is that messages come to us from anywhere and everywhere: and I included mostly winged beings as messengers (in my quilt) because, as you did, I grew up in a church where angels were the chosen messengers for God's word. I was simply a little more inclusive.
I would suggest that you have not missed any vital messages, and it is not too late, because your level of consciousness is just where it should be, as is mine. We can only attune to that which we are capable of comprehending. We can make a decision to pay more attention, to let ourselves be more open and vulnerable, to allow the love we feel to flow more freely rather than holding back out of fear. I believe such decisions put us into another category, where we then are able to comprehend a different order of messages. And this back and forth process is in a continual process of becoming, just like the prime numbers keep going, and going. They are divisible only by themselves, and one. We might say the same thing about ourselves: only we can divide ourselves. But what or whom is the One?
Thank you so much for your thoughts on this: it is great fun to speculate together and see meanings sprout from the conversational seeds!
What a great way to start my morning. I too have never considered the actual lyrics of a Hendrix song.
One of the things I am learning on my journey to a helathier and happier me, is how to listen to different messages. From my inner voices to those on the outside. Learning how to make the best choices for how to respond and/or react.
This post will actually help a lot in considering those choices. Thanks!
Karen Syed
http://klsyed.blogspot.com
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