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As one of those burnt out activists in need of focus and healing, I attended the Andrew Harvey workshop this weekend at the Fellowship Congressional Church in Tulsa, OK. I believe that I went with an open mind and heart, though always skeptical of any kind of religious dogma. What I found was a sort of collective focus, energy and passion for improving not only the world we live in, but by and through our own unique visions and abilities. I think what's most impressive about Andrew Harvey is not just his benevolence, intelligence, energy and passion, not his relationships with Deepak Chopra or the Dalai Lama, but his ability to connect with each member of his audience in a most humble way. All through the day, I felt as though when he spoke, he was looking directly at me. But it seems most people in the room that day felt the same way.
Though raised a Mormon, and actually attending a Mormon college,I tended to read and study a lot of Eastern religions when I was young; Kahlil Gibran being the focus of one of my most memorable research papers. I think I have always suspected that "God" is not something outside ourselves, but that we have always had a part of the divine within us. Though I am one convinced of the power of self determination and independent thought, I have come to admit that I have not survived this life entirely on my own.
I know it's hard to surrender, to let go of the perceived control we think we have when it comes to the mundane tasks we must participate in to pay the bills, put food on the table, raise our families and socialize with co workers and friends. But don't we all question what it's all for, what in fact, the purpose of our life really is? When we overcome great obstacles, don't we always look back and wonder how we managed to get through it? I know I have. I have credited friendships and my own strength when in reality I realize that at all the lowest points in my life, I have surrendered, knowingly or not, to something bigger than myself.
So now, I don't just suspect, I know. I am ready to find my mystic heart, to facilitate the revolution of love in action, to find the profound knowledge, the clear and precise vision and cooperate with the birth that will come from all the death and destruction that has consumed our planet. We can become midwives to that birth. Yes, those are Andrew's words, not mine; yes, it is overwhelming and powerful; yes, it is scary and yet at the same time, joyous and exciting but most of all, it is necessary. It is time to wake up, to let go of our egos, to stop denying what's happening and shake our addictions to the status quo.
The best part about Saturday's workshop was the tools we were given to find ourselves. The first step I am taking, and I hope you'll join me, is the 3AM prayer. When all is quiet in your place of rest, offer up a prayer to whatever you believe God to be, and ask, what is it that breaks my heart the most? What issue or cause is most important to me? Then, find a group or organization that can help you do the work to provide solutions, and slowly be the changeyou want to see in the world. This is how we participate in Andrew's "Networks of Grace" and find real meaning in our lives.
Just imagine if all of us discovered what breaks our hearts and did something about it. Now that's change I can believe in!
