written August 22, 2011
Reverend Deane did her first sermon yesterday as the new minister at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Flint. She talked about Sacred spaces-physical, mental, emotional and spiritual sacred spaces and sacred moments. She did a bit of show and tell of what she keeps on her personal altar: a rosary, other prayer beads, a small quilted altar cloth, a buddha statue, and another statue of a guy emulating buddha in his contented contemplative pose (she got him for ten cents at a garage sale or flea market). She talked about the difference between habit and moments set apart as sacred. Deane said that the idea of sacredness may or may not involve belief in deity. Much of what she said, I have put into practice myself in the past or present. Much of what she said was stuff I've taught others in the past. And, some of what she said reminded me of my own neglect of keeping the sacred in my life.
My house, for one. I have been sorely neglecting my house. Among the material clutter and my mental clutter, I have been neglecting to clean as I should, expecting Deb to pick up the messes I leave behind. That is not fair to either of us, especially when my lapses of timely tidying cause our shared sacred space to fall into energetic stagnation or a physical obstacle course.
Another habit of neglect that I have practiced pretty much all of my life, is the one of leaving things unfinished. Simple and seemingly innocuous examples of this cam be found in my closet and in my sewing room. I have a bad habit of sewing something but leading the cuffs unhemmed, or the blanket binding not sewn on. In one of the bedrooms, I have two windows and only one set of curtains sewn and hanging. Over the other window hands an old, holey off white flannel sheet that room has remained unfinished that way for at lest five years. Throughout those years, Deb has gently asked me several times if I'm ever going to make the second set of curtains. Each time, I say yes, at some point, when I have time or energy or space in the sewing room among all the clutter in there (I did take care of much of that a few months ago, at least), or whatever other excuse I could come up with at the spur of the moment.
All of these unfinished projects came to mind when reverend Deane mentioned that"unfinished business" is one of the big no-nos in the art of feng shuei.
The really big unfinished business that came to mind as she spoke, is that I still have not re-learned French so I can take the test and be done with my undergraduate degree, for feng shuei's sake! Some fear or other keeps me from it, most likely. Fear of completion? (Probably, considering my track record.) Fear of failure? (I can't fail if I don't try.) Or, is it as Marianne Williamson said, a fear of my own success? (Ummmmm.....)
