OLD HIPPIES LOOKING AT GOD

Recently I saw a PBS documentary on hippies and was struck by how much resemblence there is in that movement and the present 'new-age' movement.  By the way, I don't like that term at all.  It has, for many a really negative connotation.  But then, so does the term 'hippie.'  And when you get right down to it, both terms are meaningless.

Actually, even though I'm of that era, age-wise, I never got into concept of 'hippie-dom.'  I was too busy being wife and mommy.  There was no free-love in my world.  And no drugs.  And little rock and roll, either.

I was almost completely dedicated to the idea of living the 'American dream', whatever that meant.

Married-check
Two kids-check
Working for a living-check
Being responsible-check
Accumulate money and belongings-check
Follow the masses-whoops....had a little trouble with that one although I mostly kept my rebellious thoughts hidden...even from myself. 

Today, I have more in common with hippies, in some ways.  I do believe in making love, not war.  I'm not talking about making sex.  I'm talking about creating love, joy and peace instead of creating fear, death and destruction.

I believe in respecting and caring for Mother Earth and getting back to nature for our needs...instead of automatically turning to modern day chemicals which often bite us in the arse!

Suggested reading:  SELU, SEEKING THE CORN MOTHER'S WISDOM  by Marilou Awiakta

I believe our food should not be messed with....as in being genetically altered.  And that if you possibly can, it's better to grow your own or at least, buy locally. 

Suggested reading:  ANIMAL, VEGETABLE, MIRACLE by Barbara Kingsolver

I'm not into sitting around contemplating my belly-button, but I do believe that meditation is a good thing to practice.

Suggested reading:  WHEREVER YOU GO, THERE YOU ARE by Jon Kabot-Zinn

I don't believe in using hallucinogenic drugs to get in touch with God...by whatever name...but I sure do believe in reaching toward an expanded conciousness of God...by whatever name.

Suggested reading:  COMMUNION WITH GOD by Neale Donald Walsch

Mary M, AKA Mimi and 'Sweet Tea', a very special friend of mine, recently wrote some amazingly powerful words and posted them on facebook.  I asked for and got her permission to copy them here.

"If we can view all of our world as if we are looking at God (and of course we are!) we could never hurt another thing. Be love and be loved!"

That is a totally 'hippie' idea.  And it is also totally a 'new-age' idea.  It's also the central idea and ideal of most, if not all, ancient religions and philosophies.

I think it's a good one.

I am so grateful Mimi/Mary is open to hearing the truth and then sharing it with us all.

Thanks, Sweet Tea! 

WHEN SPIRITS SPEAK

Here’s a little story I want to share with you all. This happened several years ago. It shows how we are all connected in a very real way!


One day, I was browsing through the library with no idea what I was looking for.

A little book just jumped off the shelf and into my hands....

Well….. not really...but you know what I mean.

I took it home...started reading it and knew almost immediately that it was going to change my life.

I got on-line and dug and dug till I was able to find the author's home phone number.

I felt possessed. 

I felt like a stalker or something.

But I was just DRIVEN to call her. I don’t think I’ve ever had such a strong feeling to do something in my entire life.

So, I called her and was leaving a clumsy, stumbling message on her answering machine, trying to tell her how much her book was affecting me…when she picked up the phone.

She said she was just coming in with an armload of groceries and couldn’t get to the phone any sooner.

Here's this person who has just changed my whole life and she's carrying groceries in from the car?  That somehow just did not seem right to me.  Surely she wasn't living the regular life of a regular person, was she?

I told her...again...feeling very foolish indeed...that I just had to call her to tell her how her book was impacting me and I had only just started reading it! I wasn’t even half way through it yet.

She was so sweet and we talked for a good while. I felt like I’d just made a new friend.

Then...later, after I'd finished the book...I wrote her a letter apologizing for infringing on her privacy by calling her and repeating how special her book was to me.

Weeks and weeks went by and I'd about forgotten that I’d written her...when one morning................


The phone rang.



It was her!
It was she!
It was Awiakta!



She said....”I've been in France for the last 3 weeks. I just got home last night around midnight and I was so tired. But I was looking through the mail and saw your letter. I had to read it right then.”


She went on to say, in her sweet southern drawl,

“I just had to call you and tell you a story.........

“You know”, she said, “that day when you called me, I was going through a really rough time.

I was going through my second round of chemo for breast cancer.

I was thinking I might die.

And I was wondering if anything I'd ever written had made any difference at all in the world.”

And that, Dear Reader, is when I called her. Don’t you find that absolutely wonderful? I did. I still do.

My call must have been a balm to her soul, don’t you think? And I was so worried about acting in a totally inappropriate way.

I believe my Spirit heard her Spirit’s cry…and answered.

She is Marilou Awiakta,  a half-Cherokee poet and essayist.

I recently posted one of her poems on here, “WHEN EARTH BECOMES AN "IT."  It is one of my favorites by her, but there are many that I love.

The name of that little book is, SELU, SEEKING THE CORN MOTHER’S WISDOM. I bought my own copy so I can read from it any time I want to. I don’t have to get it from the library anymore.

Why did the book affect me so?

Because I had been ‘imprinted’ with an image of an angry, vengeful, male god figure.

Selu, the Corn Mother, became for me, a wise and warm, nurturing and loving female ‘god’ figure.

That simple statement holds much meaning. It would take another book to explain it in detail.

But, if you have had a similar ‘imprinting’, no explanation is necessary, I’m thinking.

And now, you know how my painting CORN MOTHER came into being and why it will NEVER be for sale!

Even though we have not kept up a correspondence, I feel a deep connection to her.  And I bet she does to me.

I am so Grateful that Marilou Awiakta followed her passion to write her poems and essays. And I am so Grateful that I followed mine, to give her my gratitude, when I did.

Here are some links to more information about Marilou Awiakta and her writing.

http://www.shepherd.edu/englweb/awiakta/awiakta.htm

http://www.ferrum.edu/applit/authors/awiakta.htm

http://www.amazon.com/Selu-Seeking-Corn-Mothers-Marilou-Awiakta/dp/1555912060