DANCEMEDITATION

This beautiful piece is from Anita Teresa.

One of the most poignant moments/practices I experienced at the Winter Movement Monastery was the “healing touch” session, where one person lay down and four others held or gently stroked their extremities.  Kate Temple West was the receiver of this affection, and I was at her feet.  To watch the gentle cascade of listening, loving attention flow into her being, with Cliff at her hands, and Jane holding her head, was wondrous.  Looking up at Jane for one moment, I saw her as a priestess, her eyes reverently closed, Kate’s prone head with closed eyes cupped in the nurturing bowl of Jane’s hands.

I looked over at the sidelong group and witnessed the moving scene of Teresa holding Celeste, her head on her chest, the two of them beginning to quietly weep.  I didn’t know what words were exchanged or what Celeste was experiencing, but the effect of this loving attention, with Anne’s prone body next to Celeste’s– holding her hands as though they were underwater together, their eyes closed–was perfectly clear.  It made me wonder about those “miracle healing services” I grew up with in the charismatic church. Perhaps it was simply the fact that someone was being showered with intense loving attention, the laying on of hands (which is so powerful in itself), and surrounded by the intention of healing, that made them instantly well.

As the week went on, I searched for a word to describe the feeling that was growing in me regarding the community we are in.  It wasn’t respect, exactly, although respect is certainly there.  But the word reverence came to mind.  We treat each other with reverence, we are filled with awe at ourselves, at the Self, the Divine.  Such reverence leads naturally to a heightened ability to nurture, to show kindness, to give and receive Love.  This made me think back to a speech I heard several years ago at a democracy conference, given by a man who works on prison reform and environmental justice for communities of color.  He said what this age needs is not another political movement, but a reverence movement.  I couldn’t agree more.