Free to Be

God leaves us free to be whatever we like.  We can be ourselves or not, as we please.  We are at liberty to be real, or to be unreal. We may be true or false, the choice is ours. We may wear now one mask and now another, and never, if we so desire, appear with our own true face.

                     Thomas Merton, “New Seeds of Contemplation”

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I have an indigenous friend

who suggests we are all born with “original medicine”

 

we are all good medicine

in her opinion

blessed with a unique combination of gifts, talents and resources

 

and our goal in life

is to use this medicine to heal

to transform, using our unique alchemy

the people, the world around us

 

to change it for the good

 

but along the way we often lose touch

with our original medicine, our true self

 

others tell us who we are

parents, sibling, friends

teachers, pastors, employers

 

and we reach a point where we are no longer

true to ourselves

 

but this true self

is always with us

we carry it in our bones

 

and this self

is what we find when we find the Sacred within

when we go deep, into that place where Sacred dwells

our false self dies

it is buried

 

and our true self is resurrected

awakened

 

we rediscover our original medicine

our original blessingto

 

and become new

and it is this new self, that God uses

to transform the world

 

having died (at least to some degree) to the false things

having thrown out the things that keep us from being

a balm to the world

 

we are freed

for peace and joy

and freed to bring peace and joy to others

 

this day

may we take a moment

perhaps as we watch the sun rise

perhaps as we pray, or meditate

to allow our souls to catch up with our bodies

 

may we take a moment to breathe

and go deep

may we touch our original medicine

and then

walk into the day, consecrated

and ready to be

a blessing