Trust? Really? Now?

For a period of several months, the spiritual and reflective reading I was doing continued to serve up to me the image of “opening” myself. One of the most poignant examples of that came with the opening words of a poem by Joy Harjo, former Poet Laureate of the U.S., entitled “Eagle Poem.”

To pray you open your whole self
To sky, to earth, to sun, to moon
To one whole voice that is you.
And know there is more
That you can’t see, can’t hear;
Can’t know except in moments
Steadily growing, and in languages
That aren’t always sound but other
Circles of motion.

The words of this poem in particular began a morning practice for me. I become quiet and still, and I begin to open myself . . . and the rest of the practice is answering the question: today, to what or whom do I open myself?

During the month of March, our theme is Living Love Through The Practice of Trust.  Choosing to open ourselves to other beings and to things–actions, dynamics, ideas, relationships, possibilities, and so many other aspects of the world we live in is one way to think of choosing to trust.

Even as I write this, however, I feel the tension building, and perhaps you do, too. So much is going on in our government and the governments of other nations which intended or not, is causing harm to people, to the environment, and to the planet. Just the daily news of it all puts me on full alert and in a defensive posture. How do I open myself in that kind of environment, and if I choose to, to what, to whom, exactly do I open myself? Why would I do that in times like these?

Finding ways to open ourselves is the work that “practicing trust” invites. To what and to whom we open unfolds in the doing of that work. As to why we might choose to open ourselves at this time in the world, I will venture a response, and ask you to consider the same. Opening to other beings, when, where and however we can, is essential to who we are as human beings. We are made for relationships of all kinds. To withdraw ourselves from any sort of trust, any sort of opening is to shut down the mystery, the magic and the wonder of who we are. We hasten our demise when we stop trusting. Even though right now trust, opening, is harder than ever, perhaps even more dangerous than ever, it is also more necessary than ever for Mother Earth and all her children.

The Eagle opens her wings and trusts the air around her, and that is the only way she can fly. To what, to whom can we open ourselves to these days?

~Bob Patrick