Crafting a Healthy Home Rhythm Part 2 - Connecting with the Divine
Now many people want to know what on earth God has to do with their child and their rhythm and their ability to homeschool. Everything. We are living in a time when reliance on the Spirit is seen as weakness and we are sold the lie that science has it all. Steiner could feel this lie even in his own time and spoke tirelessly of the connection between the spirit world and science. We have to come to a place that reveres both. Many of us have been indoctrinated in the public school system where God wasn't allowed so it will take time to bring those pieces together for you. What I am asking from you right now is just that you will follow part 1 and be teachable.
A friend once asked me, "You really do pray about almost everything, don't you?" She is a dear friend and we went to church together. She was impressed by my willingness to just hand it all over to God. Really though... what is our choice? We can fight about it. We can scream and yell about it. We can ask all of our online buddies what they would do. We can beg our husband for answers. We can call Mom. BUT at the end of the day, when you are laying there exhausted, nursing that wild toddler down for the night, it is just you, that baby and God. It doesn't even matter to me what face you put on God. It can be Goddess, it can be a dual relationship, it can even be the teachings of Buddha. It all begins with that acknowledgement that there is something bigger than you. Something that stands guard. Something that we strive for. You might be really mad at God. I can't solve all of that in this blog post, but I will attempt to work some of it out.
In one of Steiner's works he said something BRILLIANT - OK, he said a lot of brilliant things, but this one is just amazing to me...."If we do not develop within ourselves the deeply rooted feeling that there is something higher than ourselves, we shall never find the strength to evolve to something higher...You can only acquire right knowledge when you have learned to esteem it."
He goes on to say later... "Our civilization tends more toward critical judgement and condemnation than toward devotion and selfless veneration. Our children already criticize more than they revere."
Let me back up a bit. I know many of our regular readers expect I will talk about God - that's just what I do - but if you are new to our work, this conversation might put you off at first - try to stick with me, then take my suggestions and ponder them. Keep what works for you and toss out the rest.
Who is God? What is God? And why should we connect?
Who is God? Well that is an interesting question, because there are almost as many answers as there are people. How can that be? Well we are all individual, and so our relationship with God will be individual. You may not even call it God. You may call it Source, Goddess, Divine Light, Inner Light, Jehovah, Elohim, Brigid, Ostara... IT DOES NOT MATTER TO ME WHAT YOU CALL IT. It is all God energy. When we seek enlightenment where are we seeking it from? Our inner light? Our higher self? God? It is all the same energy. Religion has given God a bad name for many people. If you are one of those people then you have your work cut out for you. Inner work is a huge part of being able to bring the fullness of Waldorf to our children.
Waldorf teachers begin their day in meditation for their children in the classroom. They are even directed to seek the words of the Apostle Paul: "Not I, but the Christ in me." So right now, I am not talking to my Christian readers, more to my readers that struggle with the Christian undertones that are laced through Waldorf. For some, it is very hard to separate the religion from the man when we discuss Christ. My impulse is to help you see that you can think of the intention of the Spirit rather than the rigidity that humanity has given it. There are few that would argue that Jesus was a great teacher - even non Christians see his important role in human transformation like unto Buddha or other great spiritual leaders. When we get stiff or upset at the discussion of Christ energy or the Christ Impulse, we should stand back and ask ourselves why. Did someone upset us? Did something happen to you as a child? It could be nothing major or even as simple as not coming from a religious home and now you are floundering about where to begin. Or maybe you had a bad Sunday school experience that left you feeling nothing but guilt when you thought of Christ energy. Or maybe you are mad at God. That is something I find often too. Maybe you feel like God has let you down in some major way and you are not ready to forgive. Or maybe it is something that I haven't even thought about. Maybe you believe you are an atheist? That is fine too. A dear friend and neighbor told me he is. He is 68 years old and believes that we don't go anywhere when we die. So I wonder... what keeps you going? There is still a higher place you must be striving to, otherwise why are you rising, contributing, loving life each day?
I am here to say that it is OK if you have been or are currently in any of the places I describe. I am also here to submit that those feelings must be changing in you because you actively have sought out Waldorf education. An educational method that is very much anchored in the spiritual connections in life. I often say that this education is more for the parent/teacher than it is for the student - I believe this with all my heart. As we heal our own past, we can't help but bring that healing to our children. So I submit to you this.... let it begin. Let the peace that passes understanding begin right here and right now. When we can step back and see the Divine energy in life, tap into it, be a conduit for our family then we can begin to see our rhythm take hold and shape, we can see peace in our home, we can be confronted with our human self and know how bring forth our Spirit self. It takes practice and time. Are you ready?
Some won't be ready and if you are one, it is ok. I do have a thought for you... you have two choices. 1. believe there is something bigger, higher, yet attainable or 2. to continue to be frustrated, uncomfortable and mad. It makes me think of something I am reading - I read a book called "The God Who Weeps" - in the book, the author refers to the parable of The Ass of Buridan. In the parable, the animal starves to death because he is confronted with a decision he can't make. He has two equally pleasing piles of hay and he dies of indecision because he can't bring himself to pick one pile over the other. I love how the author brings this parable into humanity's struggle to make a decision about the existence of God.
From the authors (Terryl Givens and Fiona Givens):
"In the case of us mortals, we are confronted with a world in which there are appealing arguments for a Divinity that is a childish projection, for prophets as scheming or deluded imposters, and for scriptures as so much fabulous fiction. But there is also compelling evidence that a glorious Divinity presides over the cosmos, that His angels are strangers we have entertained unaware, and that His word and will are made manifest through a scriptural canon that is never definitively closed...There is, as with the as of Buridan, nothing to compel an individual's preference for one over the other. For most of us, at least, there is neither a choir of heavenly heralds proving God exists, nor a laboratory of science equipment proving He doesn't. Rather, we find a persuasive body of evidence on both sides of life's competing propositions. Only in the case of us mortals, there is something to tip the scale. There is something to predispose us to a life of faith or a life of disbelief. There is a heart that, in these conditions of equilibrium and balance, equally "enticed by the one or the other," is truly free to choose belief or skepticism, faith or faithlessness...The call to faith, in this light, is not some test of a coy god, waiting to see if we "get it right." It is the only summons, issued under the only conditions, which can allow us fully to reveal who we are, what we most love, and what we most devoutly desire. Without constraint, without any form of mental compulsion, the act of belief becomes the freest possible projections of what resides in our hearts. Like the poet's image of a church bell that only reveals its latent music when struck, or the dragonfly that only flames forth its beauty in flight, so does the content of the human heart lie buried until action calls it forth. The greatest act of self-revelation occurs when we choose what we will believe, in that space of freedom that exists between knowing that a thing is, and knowing that a thing is not...This is the realm where faith operates, and when faith is a freely chosen gesture, it expresses something essentials about the self."
So again, how does this relate to your rhythm, your schooling, your parenting? In our journey with parenting and teaching our children, there are many times when we are faced with indecision - many times when we feel like that Ass. Should I go this way? Or that? Should I move forward or slow down? Should I pick this battle with my children right now or preserve the relationship? These are questions that are best answered in a conversation with God. That conversation for you may be like it is with me, on my knees in prayer, or it may be while hiking and having an open dialogue, or it may be in a place of worship, or it may be while sitting in lotus pose seeking enlightenment. It can be any of those or something all together different. The method of connecting is intensely personal. I use all of them, depending on where I am, the questions I am asking and the time constraints on my prayer. Seek ways that feel comfortable for you. I often think about prayer and meditation as two pieces that go hand in hand. Prayer is the thanking and asking piece and meditation or pondering is the listening place. Sometimes we are in active listening or meditation mode and other times we are in passive mode. Passive mode works best when we have taken the time to thank and ask - the time to open up and turn our hearts to God's peaceful, loving, understanding and knowledge-seeking energy. As moms, usually busier than we let on, passive meditation and pondering can become your lifeline to God. I will often lay down at night and offer a prayer, either something I am struggling with or something I am seeking to understand, I open myself to that beautiful energy that lives within me and by morning I have direction that I couldn't comprehend the night before. Prayer works. When we seek to soften ourselves and ask for help, prayers are heard and doors are opened.
Hopefully I haven't lost you! I hope that my readers that have been struggling with the concept of supplication or daily prayer can come away from this post with an eye on how you can help your parenting and teaching to begin from this place each day.
How will it help your rhythm? When we actively seek help from the Divine or enlightenment from our higher self, we are opening, humbling ourselves, admitting we can't do it all. Admitting we need help. How is that helpful? Well, how do you react when your child asks sincerely for help? Are you willing to help a child coming to you with an open heart? Or do you turn them away and tell them to figure it out? Maybe sometimes we know that our child can come to the answer but they are struggling so we give them just a bit of knowledge to open that door. But if they come to us angry, demanding help, demanding that we fix it - are we then happy to help? I don't know about you, but as a parent, when my child asks in sincerity of heart and spirit, working to control their own will by asking, I am so eager, so happy to guide them. God is no different. Sure he'll help us if we are tantruming, but often we are shouting so loud that the still, small God voice can't come through! We have to quiet ourselves.. Humble ourselves. Become that selfless being Steiner spoke of. Recognize gratitude. Recognize love. Recognize duty. We have to be in that place in order to model it for our children.
So my challenge this week is CONNECT! If you haven't ever done it or haven't done it in a long time, beware - IT WILL FEEL WEIRD AT FIRST! Give it time, keep going. If you feel like you are talking to yourself - keep going. If you feel like you are faced with even more obstacles - KEEP GOING! When we are faced with making positive change, the polarity of the negative might seem like it is pulling at you harder than ever. Telling you that you can't do it, it isn't worth it, God doesn't exist, you aren't worthy, you don't need this, you don't need to get up early.... DON'T LISTEN TO IT!!! I am here to tell you that you ARE worthy. You CAN do it. God DOES exist (in whatever form you see him/her/it.) You DO need this. KEEP GOING.
Next we will bring in your partner. We'll talk about getting on the same page. We'll talk about matters of faith when you are far apart on the subject. We'll talk about getting to the root of things.
Missed Part 1? Find it HERE.
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