Being Right Here, Right Now: Betwixting & Betweening
Insights & Inspirations from Marianne
“After all, what is liminality but a transition between one state of reality and another, betwixt and between the splitting of the cocoon and the release of the butterfly? When we emerge, it is hoped that we will have shed our gnarly caterpillar ways for wings so that we can fly. Change from one state of being to another always requires some type of transformation.” – Rev. Dr. Barbara A. Holmes
I don’t know about you, but, recently, I have been really feeling encased-in-a-cocoon, all alone with my “gnarly caterpillar ways.” I cry, feel overwhelmed, resist-what-is (a.k.a., kicking my 16 little caterpillar legs) until I realize that I am only adding suffering to the pain, grief, confusion, and devastation that is already happening in the world. Then, I remember to “Pause. Return.”... and Practice (which I’m beginning to realize is what Living Life is).
Fortunately, I have quite a Menu of Practices. Some of them involve with-nessing/deep sharing and listening with another being (human or otherwise). Some of them involve music – like moving with the MBMS playlist, “Liminaling,” every morning while I’m preparing breakfast. Some of them involve learning/un-learning through a book or a course. Some of them involve caring and kinding with a friend or a stranger through an email or just a smile. Some of them involve simply breathing and being. They all help me remember that how I am showing-up and being-in-relationship with all-that-is in this time of transformation matters … That these are the seeds that I am planting; this is how I am engaging the blessings that I have been given. I remember that I have choice in this realm of relationship, even when what-is-happening-in-the-worldly-realm is not what I would choose.
Along with these personal practices, I also find-refuge-in and am-deeply-grateful-for this MBMS Community that we are co-creating. The rhythm of the Mid-week Sea Change meditation sessions is a drum beat of support, and the in-person outdoor gatherings are a delicious treat (May 25: Communing & Kinning: Authentic Relating Games at Jacks Peak Park). I am very much looking forward to being a participant in Cliff’s upcoming offering, “The Luminous Liberatory Teachings of Dr. Barbara A. Holmes.” Cliff introduced me to her amazing work a couple years ago. She not only inspired me, but she shifted my perspective … and, thereby, changed my life. Here are some reflections from Cliff …
Insights & Inspirations from Cliff Berrien (MBMS Co-Catalyst)
In mid-March I joined a diverse group of 49 others in Montgomery Alabama to attend the "Healing Race Portal” event facilitated by Rev. angel Kyodo williams and Resmaa Menakem, an experience I’m still metabolizing. I read a lot of books (almost as many as Marianne!) but I’d only brought one book with me for this journey which I suspected was going to be challenging. Walking with the Ancestors was the final book published of Dr. Barbara Holmes’ writings, and it was the perfect companion for this journey. It prepared me to approach the “portal” experience with some amount of grace and ease – by connecting to ancestral wisdom. I’m glad Walking with the Ancestors will be one of the texts we’ll be using for my upcoming course offering of the teachings of Dr. Barbara Holmes. It will be a joy to share its luminosity with you!
The primary text we will be exploring for the course will be her 2020 book, Crisis Contemplation: Healing the Wounded Village. I’ve read a lot of books on contemplative practice, from a number of traditions, but none express the insightful perspectives that Dr. Barbara Holmes offers. Like the works of many prophetic authors, Dr. Holmes’s radical work was not well known during her lifetime. However, over a 20-year period, her books offered prophetic vision and insights about how we can move towards overcoming ignorance and injustice.
Dr. Holmes’s work helps us by inviting us to radically expand our worldview, and develop new language and perspectives with the potential to propel us to construct different futures. Her language emerges from African Diasporic wisdom and imaginative traditions, theology, mysticism, physics and cosmology, and explores the work of philosophers, dancers, artists, poets and musicians from all disciplines that reveal a seamlessly connected universe held together by something akin to care. Throughout her published work, Dr. Holmes explores contemplative practices that connect us to this wisdom as everyday practice tools of healing and resource, particularly during times of crisis.
I’m confident that what you will discover as you explore her work will surprise you with its invitation to, as Dr. Holmes would say, “View the world differently.” I hope you’ll consider joining us!
