In the book, The Extricated Soul, the heroin China Hope, a nurse, a devote mediator, a prayerful person, and Reiki practitioner, juggles her spiritual practices and nursing life more fluidly then I. Throughout the years it has been a challenge for me, especially when I surrendered to the paradigm of healthcare, conditional love, and keeping up with the Jones. Health care as a healing practice is a gift. My problems arise when I have fallen to health care as an industry and as my provider for life and livelihood. It quickly overtakes me when I forget to honour the Spirit within. The workload, the stress, the conflicting values can knock the foundation from my spiritual practices and beliefs until I reawaken again…and again. Each time I restart, my spiritual practices, I say, “I won’t let this happen again”. Yet, somehow it does. The good part is, it takes me less and less time to see my fall from spiritual thinking into the quagmire of paradigms to find my reawaking again.
China is the strong White Soul that I aspire to be. Her thinking is clear and based on the Spiritual Principles. She sees the truth when others see the false thinking of ego. Yet, she still walks in this time, dimension and earth plain with ease and grace. Now, this does not say she has not had challenges because she has. She had to work through paradigms of identity, grief, unrequited love, and conditional love. Yet, as her character develops, I see her with a strong spiritual identity that moves forward and never backwards. What an incredible way to live one’s life. Letting go of the pain, the negative experiences for the metamorphosis of life to happen and for the grandeur that occurs with the alchemy of the Soul. Oh, I so long to be there.
They say there is always an element of truth in all fiction, so this is the truth: I am a nurse and a Reiki practitioner. China and I share in the likeness of unrequited love, question our identity, and continuous work on living a life from the place of unconditional love. She is much better at it then I am. We are also different. She is a mother. I am not, I grieved this loss as my barren marriage dissolved. She is biracial, I am Caucasian. How she became biracial for my story is a post for another day. She is thin and tall. I am plump and short. In my mind she is about 5’8 to 5’10 inches, this towers over my 5’ 2’’. I aspire to be that as well, tall I mean, unfortunately at 58 not much growth occurs in height.
Alchemy of the Soul
Wrapped in a silk cocoon suspended in the Lord’s light.
The journey of the Soul to leave the dark night,
is protected with all God’s might.
In human form when the choice is made
God gives its all for its creation to be saved.
The pain and agony of the dark night
gone as you journey into the light.
The illusions of your thoughts
fade away as if it is ice
melting on a hot day.
The memories of the dark night
a small part of your spirit’s life.
The “you,” of old,
gone with the alchemy of your Soul.
Suspended in light wrapped lovingly in God’s might
Your spirit must rest for God’s will for you
will require your best.
God Is I Am 