Tuesday, September 25, 2007

Sacred- a word from Chanda

This week I have been given the opportunity to meet some of the most beautiful people I have ever encountered.

A couple of months ago Troy and I were in our usual mode of staring at the map going "where in the world are we serving others next?" and were drawn back to Montana. This last spring we had an amazing response from a rather large group in Helena. We fell in love with the mountains, and decided fall would be a beautiful time to be here again.

As the trip drew closer, I noticed Troy had put a place called Babb, MT on our itinerary. I promptly questioned this. My husband tends to get overly ambitious, having us going from one corner of the state to the next figuring "while we're in the area" we can stop. It's an endearing quality that I love him for. He explained that while he was in Missoula last spring, he met with a husband and wife whose son had died unexpectedly and they were forever changed by the experience of connecting to the afterlife for the first time. They wanted to bring us to their town to offer readings to the community. After learning that the weather during September in East Glacier is less than desirable, and that we would be miles from a large city, I was less than convinced this was a wise choice. However, compromise has become my new middle name and I decided to give Troy the benefit of the doubt.

We found ourselves on the road again. Just outside of Glacier, I began to feel a stirring. It is really hard to explain. It was subtle at first but grew and grew until it felt as if our car was being picked up off of the highway and air lifted to where we needed to be. It was a magnetic feeling, and I was so overwhelmed with the voices I was already beginning to hear that I began to cry. I had no idea what we were heading into, and at the same time felt as if I was being given an initiation and a welcoming from the spirits that surround that side of the mountain range. It was palpable.

After arriving, we discovered that they would have 50-100 people at our opening event. It became clear what we were doing there in an instant. Love engulfed us all, we were giddy. We knew that some incredible healing would be done on this reservation. I suddenly grew intimidated. I have never done intuitive readings on a reservation, with people so connected to spirit that it's in their blood. Who were we to march onto their territory and deliver messages of hope and inspiration?

The evening event was incredible. Troy and I exchanged time in the spotlight. I was so comfortable, it was family, it was home. The space was sacred both in and around us, and it was understood this was our offering to them as a community. The offering of our gifts was held with the utmost respect and dignity. Needless to say, we all booked solid for the next two days. We were in heaven...literally. After speaking with one of the owners of the bar where we presented (no lie, we really were in a bar) I discovered that they lose at least 30 young people to tragedies every year. It was clear that energetically the community was suffering. A little light and hope was all they were looking for, and it wasn't happening in the pews of their churches anymore. We were humbled and honored by the faith and trust they placed on us to deliver. And we did. Every time. I pulled up my boot straps and declared that I would be whatever was needed. Sometimes I was a hands on healer, other times the medium, other times the intuitive. No matter what was called for from person to person, I was able to pull from within the power to offer a sense of closure and peace they all so desperately longed for. Those who were searching for answers received them. Loved ones, spirit guides, animal totems and channeled messages graced the walls of that bar. It will never be the same.

The joy and peace that was exchanged will be an experience I will never forget. They begged us to stay extra days. We begged them to let us come back, knowing our time together was complete for now. They offered us a gift, a peace offering, a tribal offering to honor us. It was touching. I can't say looking back who was changed more by that experience, them or me. I am incredibly humbled by the true power of allowing. It is in that space where love...a.k.a. miracles lie. I offer a prayer now, a meditation to honor those we met in Babb, Montana and for that sacred place we all shared together.

Great Mother, sacred Earth. Please guide and protect the people of the Blackfeet Reservation.
It is in your nurturing hands they will be carried. Lift them up, caress their souls gently now. We give gratitude for the grace you bring to the land, healing the multitude of sorrows laying like a fresh blanket of snow so cold and heavy. Melting the hurt cleanses their spirits like the melting snow that flows back to the river, back to where it came. So connected, this cycle of life. Your steadiness gives strength to this people, as you hold them up. They understand your divine connection to them, to us all. Bring peace and understanding to their children and their children's children. Amen.