At last week’s Gathering in North Carolina of over 1300 Quakers, I had occasion to recall an experience of the invisible. Since this surfaced during an extended worship time (sitting in expectant silence with a group) it holds a special significance for me. The story goes like this.
For a number of years my sister Hildie and I spent two or three weeks in the summer at the place my friend Pamela generously let us use in Door County, Wisconsin. For those of you unfamiliar with this gem of a place surrounded by lake Michigan, it is known as the Martha’s Vineyard of the Midwest. The particular house we stayed in was surrounded by woods, pine trees. There was a beautiful very large flower garden, spectacular views of the lake and much more. This is just to give you a sense of the place.
One early morning I got up to see what the lake was doing. There was a light fog over the lake and as I looked out I had an immediate fright. All over the flower gardens hung a web like cover, something like a glistening spider web. My first thought was that something terrible happened during the night and that all the flowers would die. I dreaded telling my friend but called right away. She laughed and told me not to worry. This rare vision occurs when the environmental conditions are just right. She assured me that this invisible presence, protecting the flowers always, would be invisible as the sun came up. We talked at some length about the magic of this. And as predicted, the sun came up and all was as usual. It seemed as if the droplets, which had made the web visible, now vanished.
I kept looking for evidence of the web but found none. Subsequently, I was very preoccupied with the invisible for some time. It is not that I don’t experience the invisible in other ways, because I do. It’s that this visual experience was different. Or, I think now, probably more common if I was more conscious and paying attention.
So I’m wondering why this memory surfaced now. At the moment it seems that my current focus on the quantum field and quantum healing are connected to this. I ask myself, am I being directed to make the invisible, visible somehow? If so, what are the particulars which will make visible that of which we are a part, that in which we are immersed, connected, is in us, of us, around us. I have a fleeting thought right now that, maybe we are all one aspect of the invisible made visible. Maybe this is one of the infinite ways in which the Divine communicates with us and reminds us to waske up and remember who we are. Clearly, the Invisible and Visible have found their way into the fore front of my awareness.
These are my thoughts of the moment which wanted to be shared. Now, on to ponder further and see what emerges. What a fascinating yourney this life is. Don’t you agree? Share whatever occurs to you. It may be the very thing which will jog the next step for me or someone else.
In Light and Love, Hedi
What a rich experience, Hedi. For the last three years my life seems so connected to the invisible, and it happened yet again this morning from a dream (in answer to a prayer), a spiritual reading, and then hearing from many people. But what I want to say now is that I believe Door County must be a “thin place”. And that reminded me of a feeling of such a place, at a very definite location, in my neighborhood. Doing my usual walk and crossing the boundary, this came:
The Gift
I took one step, and I was in another world
It was my usual walk, the same route
The same sights and sounds
The same thoughts, feelings, preoccupations
And now all was changed
Subtle but there could be no mistake
That one step changed everything
There was a hush in my world
A sense of stillness and peace
It was a benediction.
I continued my walk
The bird songs, the flowers, the trees
All were the same yet different
A squirrel darted in front of a car
I knew he would be safe
There is no death in this world.
My agitated mind at peace
There had been expectancy
Mysteriously it came
It was a gift
It has no name
Thank you, Spirit.
Love and light,
Bob
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Oh Bob, how beautifully said. I never thought of “thin places”. That is very interesting. I do have the experience sometimes of stepping into a different energy field, I sense it. More to ponder. Love, Hedi
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