As the Sun Opens the Lotus, the Law of the Universe is Expansion

If You're About Contraction, You're in Fear

Yesterday I saw the sun as I never saw it before, pulsing in crystal light for what seemed like long minutes. It put me in mind of my experience with this Lotus flower opening at Kenilworth Aquatic Gardens in Washington, DC.

Happiest day, beloved Joy Train Rider! I love you! Bless you! I affirm we are doing GREAT!

WHY do we need to think and feel that we’re doing well, especially on THIS day, so fraught with tension and apprehension? My answer is that individually and collectively, we have the power of attention, focus and will. These are the elements required to stand strong and create deliberately. To GIVE THAT UP TO ANYONE or ANYTHING is to let down the Spirit in you, and that will keep cascading until YOU stop it.

So as the abomination of a spending bill which sabotages Americans’ future is lurching like a fanged beast through our Senate, we need to be more resolute than ever and NOT ALLOW ourselves to succumb to fear of the perpetrators. They are not infallible and in fact so cartoonishly incompetent it would be funny if it weren’t so dangerous. Let’s flood the Senate switchboard with our rejection like we’re praying to our Source, in confidence and righteousness. The urgency is great.

Our activism should be energized by the fact that we turned back Mike Lee’s odious and unctuous bill to sell off our public land treasures out from under us. Richard Reich lays out the facts of The Worst Bill in History and what we must do TODAY. And Jack Hopkins’ Four Wild, Unlikely, But Entirely Possible Scenarios That Could Smash Authoritarianism and Reignite American Democracy takes the prize for me.

As my beloved husband Frank, who survived growing up in the segregated South and is renowned for his sagacity often says, “You never know what’s going to happen. Something completely unexpected could come out of the blue and knock all the plans out of whack.” Please let it be so, dear God! My spiritual discipline and consistent rituals to help me get closer to Source are helping guide me through this time.

How are you faring? I’m concerned at the level of pessimism on exhibit because that only feeds the nefarious efforts.

Which is why I thought of the Lotus bloom. There can hardly be a more beautiful and elegant flower, so much so that it is known as the Flower of Enlightenment and Spirituality. This flower is revered in the East as well as by many here in the West.

We’ve been here at Kenilworth Aquatic Park in Washington DC together on the Joy Train, feasted our eyes and filled our soul with the involuntary emanations from acres of pink lotus and blue lilies. I think it might be the greatest expanse of this delicate treasure in the country, and the story behind its creation is heart stirring and inspiring.

The Park celebrates the splendor of the flowers at the peak of the season, attracting people from all over the world. This year the Lotus and Water Lily Festival takes place July 18-20, and I’d give a lot to be there in person. If you’ve never experienced it, this is the year to go and replenish your spirit in one fell swoop.

Grateful to Tom Ervin for this image of a Lotus and a bee in the eternal dance. NPS photo.

Thinking about how the Lotus opens in such a graceful, slow, peaceful way under the ministrations of the Sun, it came to me that the law of the universe is expansion. Remember the last time you saw a flower in the process of opening? It cannot be forced - it gives of itself in its own time.

The opposite of expansion is contraction. In humans it is linked to fear and anxiety, the feeling of not being enough. If you need an easy way to determine whether one is being loving or fearful, a big clue is whether they’re acting out of expansion, associated with love; or contraction, associated with fear. It’s not hard to tell what our current “leadership” represents.

Most of all today I want to remind you, dear Rider, to take note of the “common” things around you. Noticing and appreciation nature is a key to maintaining mental stability and focus. Often we take it for granted and deprive ourselves of the sustenance it provides.

As an example, our taxi driver was taking me to town when I saw a huge, magnificent Royal Poinciana tree in full bloom right in front of us. I gasped and pointed, wordless.

“What?” he asked.

“That!” I said.

“Oh Mrs. Peterman. We’re accustomed to those. I don’t even notice it.”

What?!

I realize he probably has financial or other issues. Most of us do, especially now considering THE STATE OF OUR BELOVED COUNTRY. But if we’re living in our head, going over and over those problems constantly while tuning out the glory of the firmament around us, we are losing. The more I look and appreciate and express gratitude, the more I see concrete steps of support in my life from unexpected sources.

And that’s what my spiritual inquiry and practice are teaching me: Notice. Appreciate. Be Grateful. Use your mind to flesh out the scenarios you want to experience, and feel as if you’re already living it. The mind, they say, does not know the difference between a deeply felt “pretend” or what passes for reality.

I know it’s working for me, as my desire is to embody more of the light of my Source, and channel it into helping uplift my country. I know it because people tell me so, and because I see people perk up as I pass them on the street and say hello or when I’m otherwise in their presence. I’m sharing this because if my small efforts can pay off in such a big way, so will yours if you’re willing to try.

“The unexamined life is not worth living” was only a cliche to me until I started examining my life. I’m finding that there’s so much to discover that helps me feel in control, to the extent that’s possible. How could I resist sharing it with you?

Beloved Rider I know we’ve been a little unorthodox on this trip today. My heart was speaking this message so loud I could think of little else. I’m making it free to everyone because I yearn for others to feel the sense of liberation and certainty I do. Let’s turn it into succor and support for ourselves, our country and our fellow humans.

And if you can, please subscribe/take a ticket and help expand my efforts. One Love until we meet again Friday, all being well.