The Rejuvenating Power of Love Beyond Difference

This Week's Quotation:

A funeral is an occasion to both mourn together and rejuvenate one another with love. Through their presence at a funeral, family and friends get to display their solidarity anew.

 ~ Hlumelo Biko: Black Consciousness – A Love Story

The Rejuvenating Power of Love Beyond Difference

Rev. Berry Behr, Interfaith Minister

The first ever Africa Kiva has just concluded in Zimbabwe. It was an extraordinary experience of soul connection through prayers, sweat lodges, ceremony and deep conversation accompanied by the unmistakable drumbeat and heart song of Africa. The sun shone warmly on the entire event and our feet became attuned to the baking red soil of the African earth.

A shooting star lit the atmosphere of the dusk sky on my first night, and early next morning there was another. Both going East.

Once I watched a non-venomous Western Yellow Bellied Sand snake slither under my tent, out the other side, and disappear. It seemed the Goddess herself had blessed this transformative event with Her presence and heard our prayers.

Grief was there, too. A lioness and three cubs had been killed by poachers. The pain of poverty was all around. The rains don’t fall in familiar patterns. Village children bringing their curiosity and sweet, innocent smiles reminded us of the preciousness and precariousness of our future. They danced, celebrated, loved, and prayed. As we all did. As if our lives depended on it.

Have you noticed that even at sad occasions such as funerals, the overwhelming sense at the end is often upliftment? How much more so when we consciously celebrate life, each other, and our planet. This is the power of community, that when we gather with common purpose our hearts expand, our consciousness blossoms and we are somehow transformed into a better version of ourselves. Peace prevails.

At the Africa Kiva, an Australian First Nations healer rubbed shoulders with a Prince from Benin, Mexican healers, Nordic medicine women, African sangomas, and Italian mystics. It was a living demonstration of the truth of Oneness beyond difference, of the vibrant flow of life that not only cares about the details but also the heartbeat. We were loving life together. We were doing what we were born to do: we were rejuvenating one another with love. May this be the way of the brave, new world.

About Open Windows

We, the authors of this blog, dedicate it to the transparent exploration of the world’s sacred scripture and enlightened spiritual thought. We believe that the original inspiration of all faiths comes from a common source, named and revered in a myriad of ways. With that understanding, the innumerable symbols, beliefs, and practices of faith cease to divide. They become open windows to a common reality that inspires and unifies us. We find deeper insight and nourishment in our own faith and from the expression of faith from others.

We hope these weekly quotations and meditations speak to your heart and soul.