Soul Purpose Sun, 14th July, 2013
As anyone who knows me already understands, I have always felt a strong connection to nature and outdoor pleasures. The idea of being confined by four walls—particularly windowless ones—causes my nature to rebel.
Therefore, an important spiritual and fitness practice for me is trail running, usually in a local park when I don't have time to travel out into the Missouri wilderness. Much different than just pounding the pavement, running in the forest both requires and rewards the ability to observe all that is around me: required, to ensure that I don't trip on a rock or tree root or squash a turtle or snake in my path; and rewarding, because it allows me the opportunity to encounter the divine all around me in the form of trees, earth and sky.
As is the Native American practice, I intentionally open myself to receiving messages from nature and, for me, hawk is one of the most frequent messengers. Hawk is both soaring and grounded—calling us to higher vision while at the same time keeping us intimately intertwined with earth-bound giving and receiving as part of the cycle of life.
Yesterday morning, I gratefully received the beautiful gift of a hawk feather discovered next to the trail at Laumeier Sculpture Park. It reminded me that Hawk has become a totem for me over the past several months as I move into a new phase of my life. Ted Andrews, author of Animal Speaks, describes how this powerful bird can symbolize the reigniting of your spiritual energy: "It may pop up as a totem at that point in your life where you begin to move toward your soul purpose more dynamically." Associated with the hawk are an activation of one's vital energies and the bold expression of them, leading to a higher level of consciousness.
And so today I'm publicly stating my soul purpose—which increasingly for me has been to pursue ministry in the Unitarian-Universalist Church as my second career. Over the past several months, I have been increasingly aware of my ability to serve others in the pursuit of their own spiritual journeys and especially demonstrating love, affirmation and compassion for those who are often marginalized and excluded by others.
Andrews sums it up well: "The red tail hawk reflects a greater intensity of energy at play within your life. It reflects an intensity of physical, emotional, mental and spiritual forces. This bird is the catalyst, stimulating hope and new ideas. It reflects a need to be open to the new or shows you ways that you may help teach others to be open to the new." This is a beautiful summary of where I feel I am at this point in my journey.
Some may be comforted to know that this is a change that will happen gradually and without cataclysmic changes to my family and my current job. Call it a five-year plan, but all of that will unfold in due course. In the meantime, I will keep living and loving one day at a time, always alert for important messages from the divine.
As anyone who knows me already understands, I have always felt a strong connection to nature and outdoor pleasures. The idea of being confined by four walls—particularly windowless ones—causes my nature to rebel.
Therefore, an important spiritual and fitness practice for me is trail running, usually in a local park when I don't have time to travel out into the Missouri wilderness. Much different than just pounding the pavement, running in the forest both requires and rewards the ability to observe all that is around me: required, to ensure that I don't trip on a rock or tree root or squash a turtle or snake in my path; and rewarding, because it allows me the opportunity to encounter the divine all around me in the form of trees, earth and sky.
As is the Native American practice, I intentionally open myself to receiving messages from nature and, for me, hawk is one of the most frequent messengers. Hawk is both soaring and grounded—calling us to higher vision while at the same time keeping us intimately intertwined with earth-bound giving and receiving as part of the cycle of life.
Yesterday morning, I gratefully received the beautiful gift of a hawk feather discovered next to the trail at Laumeier Sculpture Park. It reminded me that Hawk has become a totem for me over the past several months as I move into a new phase of my life. Ted Andrews, author of Animal Speaks, describes how this powerful bird can symbolize the reigniting of your spiritual energy: "It may pop up as a totem at that point in your life where you begin to move toward your soul purpose more dynamically." Associated with the hawk are an activation of one's vital energies and the bold expression of them, leading to a higher level of consciousness.
And so today I'm publicly stating my soul purpose—which increasingly for me has been to pursue ministry in the Unitarian-Universalist Church as my second career. Over the past several months, I have been increasingly aware of my ability to serve others in the pursuit of their own spiritual journeys and especially demonstrating love, affirmation and compassion for those who are often marginalized and excluded by others.
Andrews sums it up well: "The red tail hawk reflects a greater intensity of energy at play within your life. It reflects an intensity of physical, emotional, mental and spiritual forces. This bird is the catalyst, stimulating hope and new ideas. It reflects a need to be open to the new or shows you ways that you may help teach others to be open to the new." This is a beautiful summary of where I feel I am at this point in my journey.
Some may be comforted to know that this is a change that will happen gradually and without cataclysmic changes to my family and my current job. Call it a five-year plan, but all of that will unfold in due course. In the meantime, I will keep living and loving one day at a time, always alert for important messages from the divine.
