Filling Yourself With Light

Welcome to the Summer Solstice Writing the Prayer E-Zine:
Filling Yourself with Light

It’s just past the summer solstice (up here in the
Northern Hemisphere!) and, like many of you, I’m basking
in the long days of gentle light.

In between major thunder and lightning storms that are
cracking through the skies, knocking the power out, and
blowing down tree branches.

What is going on???

Is it just summer weather patterns? Even though what I’m
experiencing in the Northeast isn’t as extreme as in many
parts of the world, it still feels like global warming.
Intense and instable weather patterns. Changes are upon
us.

It’s a little scary, and also very sobering. The earth
is calling for our attention. How will we listen?

I’ve been reading the message of the Kogi, in Thom
Hartmann’s book, The Prophet’s Way. The Kogi are an
ancient tribe, which had a secret priesthood, with a large
mission. They believe it’s “their responsibility to
keep the Earth alive.”

In a message that they sent out from a remote, walled city
where they had lived in protection for hundreds of years,
they said,

“The Earth is a living organism, not just a ball of dirt
floating through space. It has a life and a consciousness.
Therefore, humans upon the Earth must both live in harmony
with and learn from the Earth, and, most important, feed
and nurture the Earth with [humanity’s] spiritual
consciousness.”

Like many other ancient, indigenous peoples,

they are
calling for us moderns, to wake up and change our lives.

It’s my belief that we all must share the responsibility
to keep the earth alive, and not leave it to a few chosen ones . How do we go about doing that?

I find myself wondering how quickly I can come up with a
bio-diesel car, to stop using the oil that is causing so
much pain and devastation.

And, I’m thinking about this work I offer, and how it
fits in.

With the retreat in New Mexico coming up in a few months,
and only three spaces left, I feel a certain urgency, about
what I’m sharing with you.

With all the challenges of this time, it is crucial that
each of us have a way of finding a deep center inside
ourselves. And from that center, have a way of listening
to the voice of wisdom within.

From a place of deep listening, the messages that you need
to hear to know how to live can be heard.

A retreat is a time of pulling away from the concerns of
the world, to become more aligned with your Source.

It isn’t always possible to go away for a retreat. You
can take a retreat by writing a poem! Writing is a way of
changing your consciousness, turning your attention inward, to
listen to what really matters.

Retreats can happen a minute at a time, if you choose to
still your mind and focus on exactly what you are doing,
right now.
A retreat...and a pilgrimage

Going to Ghost Ranch for a week of Writing the Prayer of
Your Life is a pilgrimage, as well as a retreat. You’ll
be leaving home, to dwell in the light of the desert, to
dwell in the vast space that you can only find in Northern
New Mexico.

It’s a time to deepen and strengthen your relationship
with prayer and with writing. You’ll have plenty of time
to do both. And, as you know, taking the time to do what
you need to do is often the hardest step in the process!

What happens when you pray?

For me, I think the most important thing, is that I become
filled with light.

I don’t know exactly what G-d is. I don’t know exactly
what to call this presence that we sometimes call G-d,
Goddess, the Divine…The Source of All…but I know it is
an experience of illumination. When I take the time to
truly pray, to come into closer contact with that which for
me is Sacred, I am filled with light.

One of the gifts of going on retreat is to be able to
immerse yourself in that kind of light. I think it’s
why taking time for retreat is seen as necessary for anyone
who is serious about their spiritual path.

The same is true for taking your creative work seriously;
you need be able to pull away from the life of the world,
from business as usual, and enter a different kind of time.

Sometimes, a retreat of fifteen minutes in the course of
your day is how you fill yourself up with light. And it
can work! If you take that time, your prayer time, your
writing time, and really take it as a retreat, meaning
that you pull back from your activities and enter your
space as a time to connect with the sacred, whether through
writing or prayer, or both, it will serve you as a retreat
does. You will be filled.

And sometimes, you’re able to take the gift of longer
time.

The opportunity to be at Ghost Ranch, at Casa del Sol, in
early September, for a week long retreat of Writing the
Prayer of Your Life is a very special opportunity. It
doesn’t happen very often. And it is happening now at an
incredibly reduced price.

Right now, you can register for $730.00. That includes
your meals, housing at Casa del Sol, and a workshop from
September 8-14. This workshop at this price does not
happen very often!

It will be a time to fill yourself with light. It will be
a time to touch the light inside you, that may feel covered
over, by all the fears and concerns of your life and the
world. It will be a time to be blessed by the land of red
cliffs and red sand. A time to watch the sunrise over
Chimney Rock, and watch the sunset over Georgia
O’Keefe’s favorite mountain, Pedernal. A time to walk
the labyrinth, pray at the medicine wheel, and most of all,
a time listen deeply to the stories of your soul, and write.

I hope you’ll consider joining us for a very special
week! Only three spaces are left, so now is the time to
register, to make sure you’ll have a place.

And if you can’t travel now, please, do yourself a favor,
and find a way to build some retreat time into your daily
life. Take fifteen minutes, in the course of your day,
that’s just for you, to connect to what is most sacred,
and to listen to what you hear, and write.

For information about the retreat at Ghost Ranch, you can
visit http://www.writingtheprayer.com/retreat

Please contact me with any questions or to talk about
whether it’s the right thing for you. Email me at
debora@writingtheprayer.com , or give me a call at
413-256-2620 (East Coast Time.)

You can also register directly by going to
www.ghostranch.org .

A few other reminders:

An online class is a powerful opportunity to support your
writing, at a time that works for you. Four spots are
available for online classes in July. You can sign up
until July 14. The cost for the online program will be
going up in September, so now is the time to take advantage
of the introductory rates that are available.

http://www.writingtheprayer.com/services

Blessings on all the stories of your soul,

Debora

Writing the Prayer of Your Life
writing workshops and retreats,
coaching, mentoring and tutoring
for adults and children of all ages
www.writingtheprayer.com
debora@witingtheprayer.com
413-256-2620