Dearest Wayfarer, welcome to the dance, to the simple way that leads us back to God, to life, to openness, to justice. These have always been with us. We are never far from them, though they may sometimes feel light years away. Everything that is, was, and ever shall arise in the crucible of the Big Bang, when all the energies of the cosmos burst forth into being. It is impossible to say what was before this. Do not be afraid and do not worry about such things. We find many, if not most, of the wondrous aspects of our cosmos in this great cloud of unknowing, where we must admit, accept, and savor those things that we don’t know as much as the things we do. This creation is a blessing, a fountain of grace that supports, sustains, and scintillates with the possibility for life. Some choose to read the cosmos as hostile, foreign, and dangerous, forgetting that the very mechanisms that allow our lives to be possible can also harm us. A fire can burn us as easily as it can keep us warm on a cold winter night. The flames are in and of themselves a blessing. Fire does not care if it gives or takes life. We read our judgments onto the results it leaves behind. Life is the most basic grace we have from God, who is the ground of being and becoming. When we choose to turn our attention exclusively to aspects of the universe that can harm us and attribute a malice they do not, and cannot possess, we are blinding ourselves to the blessing that surrounds and permeates us every day. This blindness breeds fear in our hearts and causes us to stop savoring the gifts of life and forget not only our basic nature, but the nature of the cosmos itself. Fear is the thief forcing itself into our mind to harm, rob, and imprison us from the awe and wonder around us at all times, but it is not our enemy. It is an opponent acting from its own ignorance, striking wildly into the surrounding darkness. This darkness is the [[Shadow of the Almighty|zel Shaddai]], the [[shadow of the Almighty]], the cosmos born from the sheltering gloom of the Presence of God dancing before their own Divine Light, making the patterns and forms of everything we perceive around us. God is in the shadow as much as the light, as much in the music as the silence, as much in the dance as the stillness. If we believe God exists only in the light, then how can the darkness feed fear and give it a place to live and grow? “There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear has punishment. He who fears is not made perfect in love (1 John 4:18).” So how can our love be perfected? Enacted love is compassion, which is simply following the gold and silver rules in our thought, word, and deed. Do unto others as you would have them do unto you and do not to others what you would not have them do unto you. Each of these rules tempers the other and encourages us to test the boundaries of compassion, which are leniency and indifference. Both of these masquerade as compassion, but they are not. Leniency does not ask what we should not do, while indifference ignores the actions we should take. Compassion is the truest guide to our spiritual practice because we ask ourselves how can we show compassion to the earth, our neighbors, our ancestors, the saints, the angels, and even to God. It also forces us to ask if we are practicing for ourselves or others. Sometimes we need to practice our devotions for our own peace of mind and remind ourselves of the blessings surrounding us, but it is through compassion that we realize that an infinite God does not need our praise or devotion. As the prophet Hosea received the word of God, “For I desire mercy, and not sacrifice; and the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings (Hosea 6:6).” This mercy, this chesed, is the loving kindness we show one to another and to all creation. As we bestow kindness (gemilut chesed), we restore the sparks of the Divine to their proper place in the cosmos and restore the world (Tikkun olam). When we bestow kindness to our fear, we do not drive it off like a vampire before the light of dawn. We cradle it in our arms, calming it like a crying child and teaching it to see the world as it is, ignoring the monsters we pretend are in the shadows. Once calmed, we take it by the hand and invite it into the dance of life, where we step between the four paths we walk in this life. In awe, delight, gratitude, and joy, we step through the Via Positiva, the way of bliss, where it is easy to feel the full Presence of God in our enthusiasm for life and the wonders of creation. We savor the sweet nectar of life, welcoming it all with hospitality. We know we are in the kingdom, that God is in us and we are in God. At times, we step into uncertainty, darkness, and suffering, and the need to let go and let be. This is the Via Negativa, the way of silence. It is not uncommon to hear the wolves of doubt howl in the dark night of the soul, and loose grip on fear’s hand here. In the dry silence, we wonder if our memory of the greening lands was an illusion. There is nothing but the pain, the loss, and the silence. Yet God is here. Grace is here. The music may have rested, but the dance goes on within the silence between beats. Catch your breath, but do not stop dancing. The rhythm will return and the music will pick up again. The Creative Way (Via Creativa) is born through the erotic union of the way of bliss and the way of silence. Here, we conceive the work that will flow into the cosmos through us. We cultivate the greening spirit of the world and give birth to the images within us, to God, to the light longing to find its life in and through us. It is here we find our creativity and passion, bestowing upon them the kindness of our time and energy so they might emerge fully formed into the world. The last path is the sibling of the way of silence, and it is called the Transformative Way (Via Transformativa). Here, we encounter the broken world on its own terms and restore the world through justice, healing, celebration, rebirth, and resurrection. We also see the stress and the cracks within ourselves that need these same energies. It can be hard to discern whether we have stepped onto the path of silence or the path of transformation, since both can drive us into the dark night of the soul where all feels lost, devoid of the greening powers of God. On the way of silence, we bestow kindness within letting go and letting be; while on the way of transformation, we bestow kindness from the inside out to heal, restore, and rejuvenate. As we dance this great spiral in Sarah’s circle, we discover with great joy and wonder that each of us is blessed with grace to be a mystic, an artist, a visionary, and prophet. Do not we afraid of the title of mystic. We are all mystics, learning to savor and experience the cosmos and bestow our kindness according to our unique insights into the surrounding wonders. When we sip our favorite beverage, or eat our favorite food, we encounter the mystical energies in it that give us joy, wonder, and awe. We long for it as it is being prepared; we experience passion as we consume it or in the making of it, and celebrate its flavor. In so doing, we have danced along all four paths as a mystic. We do the same when we see a sunset, a newborn child, or chat with our friends. Being an artist does not mean that we paint or write or make music, though it could if these are our arts. An artist follows their passion and bestows their kindness upon the world through the things they create. This could be a meal, a party, and a safe place to relax among friends. Free your mind from more limiting definitions of art. Like an artist, a visionary is a dreamer who imagines the world not as it is, but as it can be. As visionaries, we see are lives in the Kingdom of God, seeking how to restore this world to the light and life Providence designed for it. Do not be overwhelmed by this calling. Such visions come in all sizes, from the form of our personal lives to dreams that can change and affect the whole world. We must follow our heart and listen for our callings, remembering that we must follow our individual paths and not the paths of others. Like the visionary, the prophet works to heal the world by interfering with injustice where they find it. This could be as simple as intervening when we see someone being bullied, or joining in larger protest movements to change our society. The prophet bestows kindness to the suffering and stands up to the powers that be with love and compassion. We must always remember that the Holy Waters of Life that sustains, heals, and restores us comes from the same Divine River that so many other pull from. While the design of our cups may vary, the water is still the same. Others may not use our cup or have one that resembles ours at all, but that doesn’t mean we cannot sit at the same table and share in the abundance the wellspring of life offers to us all. In our time and until the sun grows to devour the oceans, it is our greatest and most sincere duty to care for this precious garden we have grown from. Injustice and harm to the earth is injustice and harm to us and all that live upon her. We must find harmony with the others we share in this precious world. My dearest Wayfarer, enjoy the paths we walk, for joy and awe are some of the first steps along the journey.