We have been dealing with a lot of shedding around here of late- animals shedding fur, seeds shedding shells, snakes shedding skin (with the assistance of a scalpel) walls shedding cabinets, floors shedding tiles, trees shedding ripe pods. And as I observe and accept all this shedding in the mundane world around me, I strive to shed all those things that keep me too insulated, prevent me from growing, serviceable parts still attached to the parts of me that have died, the layers in my psyche that threaten to spill out things I am am attached to, coverings and veils that hide the bedrock of my soul and the thoughts, ideas and plans that can either lay on the ground or be gathered up, ground up and made into a nourishing substance. A long lot of metaphors, but every one of them apropos to the life I find myself in right now.
The interesting part of this process for me is that the more I shed, the more me I find. The lonely me who believed that crumbs of love were enough to sustain me finds a festal board of love of all kinds laid before her every moment. The wise woman me who stealth-fully practiced her craft while staying within the conventional system of medicine, now unapologetically works her skills with all whom she comes in contact with. The faithful me that held unspoken conversations with her Creator constantly, continues to do just that while bringing in service to her faith community and intoning prayer and devotions for an hour a morning with my future intended. The little girl me who trusted no one and was ashamed of her sadness, fear and joy, now has all those emotions witnessed, attended to and held sacred by others and a constant loving companion. The self abrogating me that sits in judgement of myself, weakening my strength in the world with constant thoughts of sloth is allowed voice and gently reminded that she is not lazy, shiftless and worthless. The scared me who denied her own radiant beauty in the world now unashamedly accepts declarations of how stunningly gorgeous she is, wrinkles, scars and all. The wounded woman that I am and will continue to be as I reach for wholeness, who believed it when told that she was generous to a fault and that she needed to be needed, has finally accepted that generosity of heart, time, money and love can never be a fault and that needing to be needed is what we are all here to aspire to, it is how we grow into selfless servants of our God.
So dear friends and lovers, think about what you are watching be shed. It may be that dog and cat fur could make wonderful sweaters, it certainly cradles baby birds in their nests well. Seeds can only grow into fruit when they sacrifice their protective shells, dead snakes can contribute to the adornment of an awesome hat. When cabinets fall off the walls, all those things stored in them may find more interesting, accessible, beautiful places to reside for a while. When tiles pop off of floors, it may be time to change the foundation of where you live. When mesquite pods are lovingly and carefully harvested from the ground, stored correctly and handled correctly, you can create sweet, complete nourishment.
Think, pray and meditate on that which you are being called to shed from your being, with every surrender the blazing glory of your preciousness and purpose will be revealed to yourself and the world. And that folks is never a bad thing.
