The Conversation

“I’m sorry to disturb you, AllMother.”

“It is no disturbance to see you again; I sensed you down the hall. Come in, fear not, sit – and speak to me of what’s on your mind, my son.”

“I have welcomed a new life into the world below, as doubtless you well know. He is my first-born, pink and loud and helpless, and I find myself overcome with feeling. Sensation I’ve not felt before, not in battle nor in preparation for battle. I’ve only gotten glimpses of those feelings, oddly enough – “

“-- when you’ve been in the darkness, alone, contemplating the great silence, the glory of glory of the night sky. When the stars whisper to you in tongues unknown, to let you know you are not alone.”

“Yes, AllMother. Yes, precisely. I feel that when I look into his wrinkled little face, when I see his eyes wandering this new world, taking in all that is around him, when his tiny fingers grip my own with a strength I’ve only imagined.”

“But there is more, isn’t there? You didn’t come here to talk to me of the night skies.”

“There is more, yes. I feel – I feel anger at the small men who wield power in my world, the tearing of our society’s fabric, the fear they engender to hide their own smallness. It enrages me. I don’t know what to do with that rage, AllMother. I don’t know what to do with that worry.”

“What you’re feeling, my child, is Fatherhood. And let me assure you, you are not the first to feel these things, nor will you be the last. Your beloved feels it too, magnified even more by the bond between a mother and her child, and the roles she plays to him, to you, to me, and in the plane where you all exist. You are not alone, you have never been alone. You know this, else you would not have called out to me for this visit.

“I remind you that you are not only a warrior, you are a poet, a philosopher, an artist. All of these things coalesce in your role as a father, and how you live, how you respond when the Great Challenge comes to you is a product of everything you are. So to help you, I remind you of the old ways, the ways you’ve been taught to steel yourself before and within battle. You remember your training, yes?”

“Yes, AllMother, of course. I practice it daily.”

“Of course you do, because you are a Protector of the Lands. Still, let us practice together, you and I, eh?

“Breathing in, I know I am breathing in.”

“Breathing out, I know I am breathing out.”

“Breathing in, I know I am breathing in.”

“Breathing out, I know I am breathing out.”

“Breathing in, I know I am breathing in.”

“Breathing out, I know I am breathing out.”

“Breathing in, I am aware of my body.”

“Breathing out, I recognize my body is impermanent.”

“Breathing in, I contemplate the planet Earth.”

“Breathing out, I recognize the planet Earth is impermanent.”

“Breathing in, I contemplate the human species.”

“Breathing out, I recognize the human species is impermanent.”

“Breathing in, I contemplate governments of the world.”

“Breathing out, I recognize governments of the world are impermanent.”

“Breathing in, I embrace the impermanence of all things.”

Breathing out, I recognize that impermanence makes everything possible.”

“Impermanence…”

“…gives us hope.”

“You will perform this meditation morning and night. The breathwork will calm your mind and bring your nervous system into a state of lovingkindness.

“When you fear, or rage, or worry, you remember that those burdens are Mine now, and you will release them to me with this prayer: Thank you, AllMother, for guiding me to perceive my fear through the eyes of Love. When I feel fear, I step back, I surrender, and I let Love lead the way.”

“It’s this simple?”

“Simple does not necessarily mean easy, child – you know that. But yes, it is this simple. It calls for you to believe in something bigger than yourself, which you already do, or you wouldn’t be here with me. It calls for you to trust in something you cannot see or grasp, you can only feel. And that…”

“…is the essence of faith.”

“Precisely. Now, you remember your training. You focus on what you can control. When the fools in power make their foolish choices, you love yourself, you love your beloved, you love your son. When the weak are oppressed, you find ways to help them, calmly, quietly, remembering that we, too, were once strangers in a strange land. You use your strength, your gifts, your art to speak truth to power, and you walk through this valley even when fear threatens to consume you. Because in those dark moments, that is when I will be there with you, and you know this. Above all, love and create. These are the most powerful acts or resistance you can perform, love and create.”

“I shall do my best, AllMother. But I am only one man.”

“One person is all it takes, my child. Your beloved stands beside you, and your clan as well. And their clans and their clans, brothers, sisters, cousins, relations of all sorts. Brothers and sisters of other blood, all shining the Light of Truth into your world.

“For you all to do your best, that is all I ask. I will do the rest. Go now, in peace, and live in as much joy as you can muster, for joy in times like these, joy is itself an act of resistance.”