“We stand in our own shadow, and wonder why it’s dark.”   Zen Proverb    Photo Credit by kariliimat ainen

When I was a little girl, my uncle Oscar once told me, in his thick German accent, “Little Ginny, the moon is made of green cheese.” I wondered about that for quite a while. I think he was trying to tell me not to believe everything I see or hear. So while the moon continues to romanticize hearts all over the world, mine included, it also reminds me that there is a greater truth out there and to never stop questioning and reaching for it. I am here for an important earthly task before my heavenly appointment.

Caroline Myss, in her book, “Sacred Contracts,” a book about awakening to your divine potential, writes that the first stage of the Sacred Contract, or your calling in life, is contact-a moment of connection that occurs between you and the divine. Sometimes subtle, sometimes profound, throughout our lives at some moment, a call comes. Are we listening?

My contact came as a little girl sitting on the big porch swing in our backyard. I would go out there at night and swing quietly, looking at the stars fascinated by the vast expanse of the sky that went on forever, but mostly I sat there because of the moon. Each time I saw it my heart never failed to leap in awe and wonder at what was for me– the first real presence of heaven. Similar to Linus, in the Peanuts Halloween Special, as he waited for the “Great Pumpkin” to rise out of the pumpkin patch, I sat there waiting for this “white orb” of divine goodness to come up over the trees. I had so many questions for this celestial being and each night I would end with prayers and a wish to visit special places past the moon, much like over the rainbow, where no one would hurt anymore or would hurt others. As I sat on that porch swing, I was determined through all the fears and uncertainties in my young, budding life, not to give up on the dreams or the life I envisioned. That little girl knew something inherently that her circumstances many times dictated otherwise, and it is that something, that precious jewel, that we need to protect and keep as an heirloom of faith.

As a child, not knowing who this universal intelligence or “God” was, it seemed I could find it easier. I wasn’t told yet who God was, or where he lived, or what he did, and how he looked. It was mystical and magical being led by intuition and a divine guidance. That beautiful universal intelligence spoke to my heart in many wondrous ways teaching me aspects of my greater self, the ones that would get me through the years to come. It’s easy to enter communion with God as a child. It’s the time before hard core beliefs, judgments and opinions. Sometimes, we overlook the little child because they come with too many problems or memories we lose the magic and innocence that come with them.

The promises made under that glorious moon so many years ago continue to be a part of my own “sacred contract.” Whenever I’m a bit down, or feel like I need to touch, at least visually, a piece of the heavens, I look to the stars, literally. There, behind some tree, or right out in the open, in the middle of the sky, is my old friend, the moon. As I gaze at this familiar orb nestled in the heavens, I remind myself of how far I have come, and that the journey still continues. The moon reminds me to always romanticize, but with an added awareness to remember to romanticize over the more mundane aspects of life too, the one’s we take for granted. These are the teachers and lessons we travel with each and every day, and to appreciate them. They can lift the shadows between us and the moonlight.

And finally, to never stop dreaming or wishing. To continually call on my child inside letting her dance in the glow of the moon. I remind myself to reach for the white orb of cheese and seize every opportunity as it unfolds in life. My authenticity waits for me to claim it. My calling waits for me to hear it, if I don’t dance, there is no journey.

Are you answering your call?

But they who wait for the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint. Isaiah 40:31