Illogical
Beliefs
“I
prefer to have some beliefs that don’t make logical sense.”
Louise
Erdrich
True
confessions here—I have several beliefs that don’t make logical sense. Like the
fact that I believe the little woodland creatures in my yard recognize me and communicate
their needs. I even believe the red wasps who buzz around the eaves and make
nests in the slits between boards know who I am and that I’m no threat to them.
I have never been stung by one. They fly up and check me out and then move on.
I talk to trees and to my little flower garden. I praise their beauty when they
bloom, I thank seeds for germinating and putting out second and third leaves. I
tell them encouraging things as though they understand my words and appreciate them.
My neighbors must think me strange, eccentric, perhaps a “crazy old lady” and
that’s okay with me, because I am.
Louise
Erdrich, a member of the Chippewa nation, wrote that “to sew is to pray.” Some,
she said, don’t understand that because they only see the finished piece and
not each stitch that goes into making it. I agree with her that to sew is to
pray—to enter the creative process in any way is to enter the territory of the creator
and is, therefore, holy ground. Prayer is appropriate. This includes preparing
food. If you hate to cook, you should not cook. Not because it’s especially good
to get your food from other sources, but because your hatred will taint the
food. If you love to make things—food included—then your love energy goes into whatever
you make and provides a natural blessing to whoever partakes of it.
All these
illogical beliefs have to do with energy—the energy we put out into the
universe. We imbue everything we touch, all our words, all our thoughts with
energy—chi as it is called in eastern traditions. When that energy is negative,
no good comes of it. When it is positive, it restores, renews, and energizes
whatever is around us. Don’t hear me as saying you should never be sad or angry
or frustrated. There are things in this world that call for all these human emotions.
The goal is simply to not impose our negative energy on anyone else. To
recognize it, feel it, and contain it. To stay with whatever emotion we’re
experiencing long enough to understand it and to allow it to transform us. When
we direct it outward—in angry words or actions—all the transformative energy is
lost to the cosmos. It adds to the ugliness we are already experiencing.
Lots of
beliefs cannot be proven. Don’t let that stop you from believing them, but only
if they add something positive to this planet and to this universe. We don’t
need to increase the negative charge that’s already here. In fact, let’s
neutralize it with love energy. Talk to some trees today.
In the Spirit,
Jane
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