This Light in Life

When I first began working with the women in homelessness, it was a wonder to me how quickly the women responded and were able to connect to their deeper, inner selves. This work amazed me, that the power of being together in a sacred space drew forth their own inner capacities.

I had a dream after a few years of facilitating the circles. This dream showed me how women - each one of us - can work and be in life.

In the dream I saw three women standing in a park, just before dawn. They were singing praise - not specific songs that I could recall, but more a feeling that came through their singing. One of the women turns to me and says,  ‘We don’t do anything. We work with vibrations.’ She then showed me the book that they used as a resource or guidebook for their work. On the cover was the title: ‘Women of God.’

I kept this dream close, not speaking about it for several years. Just carried it quietly inside. In every challenging circumstance, the dream was right there, in my awareness.

Through my work, and in my life, I came to learn its meaning.  In essence, it was clear that I needed to become more conscious of a deep feminine knowledge about a woman’s relationship to her life and to the sacred.

Now I am aware of how – each day – this song of praise needs to be renewed. As a source of regeneration of our being, we need this to sustain life through difficulties and hardships.

On a daily level, I saw how listening to early morning birdsong filled me with joy. While living in rural California, I was often awake before dawn, and heard the exuberant birdsong, a sudden wild and joyful upwelling, and it seemed to be hundreds of birds participating.

I now live at the edge of a city and I hear traffic in the early morning. But also birds - the mockingbird on the cedar outside my window, finches, a dove, wild turkeys. I listen. It is the same listening, feeling the sacredness of life pouring through.

So to return to the dream, this sense of praise is both inner and outer. To renew this light in life - each morning and within oneself – whether through listening, prayer, or silence of gratitude. Or sometimes, through a sorrow in our heart.   

I saw that this was true in the circles of women at the homeless shelter; there is always this kind of dynamic, inner orientation. The women feel it in themselves. I have often heard them say, “I come here because it’s not psychological work you do here. It’s something else.”

“These circles are what helped me get through those two years of homelessness,” said Penny, who eventually found work and housing.  “This is so important to me.”  Another woman explained. “I had the first dream I’ve had in years after coming to this group. Being here has helped me to trust that I can make the next step. “

To find our own way of praising the sacred, and to renew this each day, is essential in these difficult times.  It is the ultimate nourishment that we can weave into our lives, so that it can be woven into the fabric of our Earth.