Journey To Empowerment - Softcover

Dowd, Maria D.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1583144943 ISBN 13: 9781583144947

Publisher: Harlequin Kimani New Spirit, 2004

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Journey To Empowerment by Maria D. Dowd released on Jul 23, 2004 is available now for purchase.

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Let me begin by sharing some thoughts about the state of grace itself, about what people mean when they describe a person as living in a state of grace, and make a few observations about the expectation many people have that life will be, or ought to be, wonderful.

The state of grace is that holy and contented way of being that each of us strives for. It is that state, auspicious in the spiri- tual realm, in which we work out all our difficulties with care, and function peacefully in connection with other people in the f low of life. It involves progress in accomplishing the purpose for which we were born into the world, in a way that is pleasing to those around us. It is a state of devotion and integrity, of living harmoniously, of being looked at, not as someone who is perfect, but as someone whom others trust and respect. It implies a certain level of healthiness and psychological wellbeing.

The state of grace is not the same as success in any measurable way, nor is it ref lected in social status. It is not determined by how much we resemble those whom many people admire. In fact, the person who has arrived at this state may not even be conscious of it.

Each of us passes in and out of this state many times in our life. This is a universal human experience. As we fall out of grace it looks and feels to us as if we are failing.

Indeed, we call it "failure"; a part of us dies. But this is the process by which we make space for the birth of something new, something more true to ourselves.

Something needs to be broken in order for a new state of grace to be born. It is the natural cycle of our spirit. In this way, we are born and die many times in life before we eventually return to the land of the ancestors. If we are going to achieve our purpose in life, we must be willing to fall out of grace and accept its lessons. When we feel righteous about ourselves, or deny our brokenness, we are fighting against the higher states of grace that await us.

Failure is built into grace. You cannot have one without the other. It's like two sides of a single coin. Everyone who has achieved a state of grace is certain at some point to fall, and to have fallen many times before. Every successful person, everyone you respect, will tell you that they have mountains of failure behind them.

Dealing with reversals is much easier in my village than it is here in the West. In the village you have people who are concerned about you and support you, knowing that their own happiness is dependent upon you. They also understand that failures are life-giving, that they are the engines of wisdom. Failures, they say there, come to show you that you are stagnant or wandering or that you have work to do.

Here is something I have been taught, and which I have had to learn over and over again through experience: To fall out of grace is a gift, one of the greatest gifts that one receives in life.

When we are in grace, we begin to take things for granted and we actually stop working on ourselves. Falling out of grace shakes us up. It reconnects us to the larger universe in order for us to see ourselves anew. It forces us to rediscover where our true center begins, and to learn what needs to be set aside.

Day by day, we work to maintain our state of grace. We do so not only as indi- viduals, but also as a part of several interconnected circles of support. When we fail, the work of coming back into grace is something we cannot accomplish by ourselves; it requires the participation of others.

The cosmos, the universe, is the largest circle to which we belong. This is the realm of Spirit, of goddesses and gods, of our ancestors. The next circle comprises the planet we live on, Earth. This is the place of air, water, fire, soil, stones and trees. Then comes our country and culture. Nearer to us is the circle of community, the friends and coworkers and others with whom we share our daily life. Our extended family makes up the next smaller circle, including our parents, children, brothers, sisters, uncles, and so forth. Lastly, I think of the circle of intimacy, which we share with a spouse or partner.

The role of all these different circles is to hold us in a certain place, in a certain way, so that we can f lourish. When we are in a perfect state of grace, all these rings are functioning to support us, and even if one of these rings fails us, as they always do at some point, we have the others helping us. Our well-being can continue. It is when several of these circles, especially those closest to us, start to break, that we experience a fall from grace. As they fall apart, we can be left feeling entirely alone and abandoned. We are no longer able to bring our gifts forward.

The struggles we experience at different stages of our lives are mechanisms built into us that help us rise to a better place. They are invitations for us to appreciate life, to appreciate the good things left behind, to acknowledge the sources of our disappointment, and then to let go altogether in order to come back to grace. They rekindle the acceptance of self, of others, of the past and present, and they offer us the animating experience of being welcomed home and re-embraced by the community.

For people in the village—and many other communities around the world, for that matter—it is a given that as an individual falls out of grace, so will the other members of the community because of our reliance on one another. Indigenous communities also know that, for the community to keep in touch with Spirit, this fall and rebirth of its members has to happen. Hence they push one another to take on new roles, to become adults, to become elders, or even to face death. They encourage one another to be swallowed by light, to let go of whatever comfort they are hanging on to and see that it is inadequate not to grow.

In the West, of course, it is so much different. Here the community will hardly ever support individuals who take a step off the cliff. To fall is disgraceful. There is, in fact, a fascination with suffering that is completely disconnected from the idea of growth. People do not see the goodness that grows out of failure. They immediately want to cut their connection with those who fall, and miss the point that the failures of others are also great teachers.

Knowing some of the rules of grace, for me at least, does not mean living with fewer struggles. I sometimes observe myself as an actress in a movie, and see that there is a part of me that does not really want to change. That is what happened when the elders asked me to leave the village and go to the West to share the ways of my people. I thought, "Wait a minute. I live so happily with everybody here. Why do I have to upset things? What is the point?" I crashed against the huge obstacle of my unwillingness to leave. Although I knew deep inside that it was necessary, I needed the community to push me, and to let me know that I either have to deliver my gifts or perish.

I wasn't sent to the West so that the village could be rid of me. In fact, I love the people there so much, and I thrive on their appreciation and the gifts I receive from them. However, it was necessary for me to leave this behind and be reborn in a new place, a place where I didn't know anybody, where my old world no longer existed for me. I never would have volunteered to do that. It was only the community's commitment to helping me grow that made it possible for me to leave.

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". . . will lead to a greater love of self, and a deeper understanding of the many roles we all must play . . ." -- Rawsistaz Reviewers

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