“Life is short, and we do not have much time to gladden the hearts of those who make this earthly pilgrimage with us, so be swift to love and make haste to do kindness.” (Attributed to various sources).
In January I encountered the spiritual teacher Jac O’Keeffe, a clairvoyant Irish wise woman with a beautiful, compassionate heart and a very evolved state of consciousness. She was the featured speaker at an online meet-up of the PerfectlyOkay community[1] on Saturday 1/11/22. The next day, I attended Jac’s Truth Serum Café.
I arrived too late to hear the meeting protocol stated, which was that communications with Jac were to be conducted through the Chat function on Zoom. So, when I ‘unmuted’ myself and asked a question out loud –– which is the protocol in all the other Meet-ups I attend –– Jac was evidently surprised. But I did not recognize this at the time as she responded kindly and insightfully.
None of us knew what blessings would ensue for me from this misstep. But a few nights later, when sorting through several days’ worth of email, I saw a message from Jac’s assistant. She informed me that someone in Jac’s community who had heard the question that I asked at the ‘Café’, contacted them afterwards expressing the desire to anonymously fund me to attend Jac’s five-day retreat in Georgia from 1/25-1/30. All expenses paid.
Life is But a Dream: I read and re-read the message because it didn’t quite compute. To understand what was being offered required that I step outside of my everyday sense of reality and into what seemed like a dream.
The next day, I contacted Jac’s assistant to see if I had read her message correctly –– and, if so, whether the Retreat was still on offer. She explained that it was –– but that they would certainly understand if it was too ‘last minute’ for me to avail myself of it.
Of course, there was simply no way that I was going to let this sudden, improbable shift in my ‘Life’s Dream’ slip through my fingers. So, with the support of Renata, Jac’s extremely kind and helpful representative, I reserved round-trip flights between LAX and Atlanta –– leaving enough time to catch the shuttle for the two-hour journey to the Elohee Retreat Center and back again once all was ‘said and done.’
The sense of unbelievability permeated my experience throughout the entire retreat. Elohee, the large property on which events unfolded, looks as if it is sprinkled with faerie dust because of the sparkly mineral content in its rocks and gravel. We were each given our own simple yet beautiful private bedroom and bathroom. Three delicious home-cooked meals were prepared for us every day and served on schedule in the dining hall.
Hiking trails through the woods, up to the stream, waterfall and beyond, offered glorious refreshment between sessions with Jac. There were fallen leaves along the trail that looked to me like scattered pieces of a giant jig-saw puzzle. And the slender curving pine cones in amidst the leaf litter are artfully frosted with florescent green lichen.
Elohee also offers a tea and reading room, a gift shop and spa, a pool and a fire pit for warmth, comfort and ritual. And because artificial lights at night are very minimal, the ‘vault of heaven’ glitters above when the sky is clear.
Along for the Ride: Having our needs so amply met heightened my receptivity to Jac’s reflections and suggestions in response to all our questions during formal sessions with her. And as I sat among her many long-term students, I marveled at the complete improbability of my being there among them.
This miraculous occurrence reinforced the conclusion I had reached at the end of 2021 –– after many months of nomadic living, which took me from Oregon, to Northern California, back up to Washington, and then down again to various sites in Southern California until I landed unintentionally back in my Santa Monica home of 30 years, which I’d released to a friend in the fall of 2015[2]. Here’s what all that changing scenery indicated to me:
I am not in charge of this life. I am simply along for the ride!
Based on the Elohee experience, and a succession of subsequent blessings, I’ve also come to believe that our body’s immune system, which operates with immense intelligence and only minimal participation from our conscious mind, is actually part of an even larger benevolent, intelligent consciousness. And this powerful, invisible energy, which indwells, informs and surrounds us, works on behalf of the evolution and well-being of our entire, multi-dimensional body-mind-spirit system, as it fits into the unfathomably infinite cosmic totality. Though there are many times when this benevolence is only apparent retrospectively and/or within a far larger context, trusting it is so makes it easier for me to let go in the face of whatever is showing up in my life at any given moment.
Certainly, I’ve heard Abraham-Hicks, Dr. Joe Dispenza and others describe this in various ways. But now I am actually experiencing it consistently. And as I endeavor to, “take my bloated nothingness out of the path of divine circuits …,” as Ralph Waldo Emerson so wisely advised, beneficial surprises show-up unexpectedly yet dependably, on schedule and as needed.
For instance, just the other day the gas gauge on my 14-year-old car, which had stopped functioning months before, suddenly began working again –– just in time to inform me that I was in imminent danger of running out of fuel on the freeway. And only yesterday, when seeing my image on a Zoom call, it occurred to me that a pale blue blouse would be quite complimentary to my pale skin tone. That afternoon, just such a blouse was pulled from a bag and handed to me as a gift by a woman I hadn’t seen or spoken with in years.
Clearly, something more powerful and wise than the anxious conscious mind is looking out for what I call ‘me.’ And when the incessant static-on-the-line lessens its grip on my attention, then I am gloriously aware of delicious qualities of Being that are always there beneath the roiling waves of thought that can make me feel so separate and alone. Such inherent qualities include Beauty and Truth, Wisdom and Harmony, Love, and imperturbable equanimity.
When unimpeded by distracting inner-fear-ances, the larger part of my Being works wonders in my life. And fortunately, even in those moments when I’m feeling lost in a whirlwind of negative thinking and the despondency it engenders (which fortunately happens less frequently and lasts only briefly), this greater energy continues working for my greater good. So, ultimately, it’s become evident that the busy surface mind, which I’ve identified so closely with at times, is just a fretful, a·tension-grabbing ‘bit player’ in the much larger story of my life.
Thanks to the kindness of my extraordinary benefactor, and the many loving people I’ve encountered, nothing seems impossible to me anymore. So, maybe now, in the latter days of my sojourn here on Earth, I can begin dreaming up a larger, more enjoyable life amidst the converging crises that are changing life for everyone forever.
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[1] This community is open to graduates of Dr. Jeffrey A. Martin’s 45-Day Awakening Challenge
[2] For details, please see: ‘Hold Your Intentions Firmly and Your Plans Lightly – Then Be Prepared to Ride the Wind’ –– available on the blog page of my website — WordMagicGlobal.com.
