Heading Towards The Light

Today begins the Lenten season. I hesitate to even bring it up because of the complicated relationship many of us have with religion. While I no longer connect with the formal religion of my upbringing, I do resonate with the practice of intentionally getting clear as we head towards The Light - The Resurrection, Passover, springtime, the equinox, rebirth of nature - however we conceive of it. 

This season includes letting go of something. I think of it as removing a habit from my life that could be obstructing my connection to The Light. To clear the vessel so it can be filled with light.

For me, it’s alcohol. My 2nd half century body and mind don’t love its effects. Even one glass of wine with dinner leaves me feeling cloudy the next day. Clarity is a commitment and choosing to remove any alcohol from my life for at least these 40 days is a nod to The Universe that I’m serious about my intention. 

There’s much spring cleaning we can do on all levels, whether you choose to align with the 40-42-46 days (depending on how you do the math) starting today that leads up to The Resurrection or not. Again, this can be taken as metaphysically as you like. It represents a renewal or rebirth. 

If you are still connected to the formal practices of your religion, it’s a great time to lean in, recommit and deepen.

I’m inspired to lean in. I’ve started studying the thousand names of The Divine Mother Goddess. The Lalita Sahasranama. It takes about 50 minutes to repeat them all and even just dipping a toe into these waters has me feeling at once unshakeable and expansive. I’m studying a book that describes the meaning of each of these thousand names. It’s titled Glorious Alchemy by Kavitha Chinnaiyan, M.D. In the several paragraphs describing the first name - Sri Mata - she writes, “Preservation requires the constant dissolution of the old so that the new can be ushered in.”

None of us are okay with people suffering so that something new can be born. And what are the chances it’s going to be better - and for whom? When I start spiraling with these kinds of thoughts, it’s helpful for me to go either super micro - into this breath at this moment. Or, super macro - the wheel of life spanning an immeasurable distance beyond space and time.

We have every reason to feel as if the world is imploding around us. We also have agency. There’s nothing I can do about international policy but I have 100% autonomy over my energy and thoughts. 

Now more than ever, we need our own and each other's light, to shed what no longer serves and allow what’s next to blossom into being. 

What’s a simple habit, thing or thought you’d like to release to make room for your own light to shine? It’s the intention (not any religious mandate) that makes a practice like this meaningful and effective.

Let’s stay close in our small circle as the larger circle of society heaves and lurches into a future no one can predict. Let’s tend to our own community garden - physical and metaphysical - with the intention for the abundance we reap to serve all.