My biggest, latest revelation came from a section in “The War
of Art” by Steven Pressfield, when he said to "Make your work an offering
to God." The spirits are around us all the time and want to help. He even
said things like, "Do you think the muse was whispering in Beethoven's
ear?"
It wasn’t a light bulb that flickered on, but an entire floodlight
lit up my mind! I know I receive thoughts and messages from some higher
beingness. Doesn't this fall into some of what I say when I write poetry? How
my hand just moves when I pick up the pastel? And if the muses and spirits are
working with/through us, why AREN'T we offering our work to The Divine?
In my mind, I'm toying with saying God or
Divine. There was a long time when I couldn’t even think God and not feel the
pressures of the man-controlled Christian church – I’m getting better because I
no longer feel God as that manmade construct but as a total loving oneness encompassing
the universe.
When I was doing my gratitude prayers the other night and
running through the list of (only some) the spirits and angels and more, I
thought: Is that why "they" came up with a one God? Because there are
too many spirits, gods and goddesses, angels, muses, or whomever in the
universe? How do we pray to them all, and if we leave some out, is that a
blasphemy? Are we praying to the right one at the right time? How can we give
homage to them all? By saying, “God” or “Spirit” or “The Divine” or “Universe”
or “Beloved” or whatever, holds meaning in the moment. Or do we take a line
from Shakespeare, “A rose by any other name …”
One message has been coming up for years and has been said in
various ways. Maybe the most famous was in the movie “Field of Dreams” with
Kevin Costner, “Build it and they will come.” Many writers and artists have
their own version, but it’s simply just sitting at our desks or standing at the
easels and doing our work, following our hearts, and letting ourselves fall
onto the page or canvas.
Sometimes, something special happens when we enter that space;
when we open our minds to our work/art; when we set everything else aside for
the moment and forget to be analytical. Something seemingly outside ourselves
slips in and melds with us to fall out onto the page or canvas. It can feel
like it comes from outside us, but it’s also inside us. Some call it Muse, some
say it’s Divine Presence or God. (And there are some who even know a name for
that presence. I’m not one of them, ha-ha, and that’s OK.)
I’ve written often about the Muse; how and when she comes,
and if I don’t pay immediate attention, she’ll go away until another day. But,
after all these years, and even though I pray, it never occurred to me to ask
for help the minute I sit down to work or stand at the easel. I’m usually just grateful
if/when she arrives. (I usually feel it as a she.)
So now, besides offering my work to God, I am more
consciously invoking helpers when I work. And, as my favorite poet, David Whyte,
said, “If you pay attention to the world, the world will pay attention to you.”
If we pay attention to receiving help and guidance from the universe, doesn’t
it stand to reason we’ll receive it? “Ask, and you shall receive?” (Just
remember what we receive might not be exactly what we ask for.)
Today’s thoughts coming through included: It's interesting
that when we move away from what the church/man says about God, the more
present He or spirits actually seem to be. When we get away from feeling we
have to fall on our knees and beg for mercy, the more help we get from the
universe just by simply asking or "showing up to do our work." The
more we learn to work WITH the Divine, the more it works with us.
Perhaps it wasn't that God made man in His image, but man made
God in the image of himself. A way to control ... And anyway, if God made man
in His image, how did it come to be that some men were better than others? From
what I always understood, "in his image" never said anything about
color or race or gender.
But back to: Do my work as an offering to God. How powerful
is that! Whether it's writing, poetry, or painting ... so, if I'm thinking of
doing the work as an offering, will that not also call in the muses, angels,
spirits, or whomever wants to help in these endeavors? After all, it is all
related.
I look around at my pictures on the wall and when I
think "offerings to God," tears fill my eyes. It makes my pictures
even more beautiful. And when God finds them new homes, a piece of Him will go
with the pictures blessing the new homes. It makes me love my work even more!
And my books and poetry ... offerings to God. And I am filled with such LOVE.
