This morning, as I looked out the kitchen window of our cabin, I saw my Blue Heron. He doesn’t belong to me in an ownership way. No one can own a heron. They are free and independent beings. But this heron has graced the shore of our lake since before we bought the place. I’m sure it is not the same heron. Probably an offspring, maybe several generations later, but there is always just the one. Sometimes he flies by. Sometimes he lands on our raft, called Monkey Island. Most often, though, he just walks the shore as if he is taking a morning stroll. Hunting is more likely, but his grace and beauty convey a stroll.
Today, as I watched this glorious being on his daily constitutional, I stopped what I was doing and attempted to unite with him energetically. The endeavor became my morning meditation. I watched, then close my eyes and imagined being there next to him, asking if I could join him. I inquired what his message was for me, and he stopped. He stopped right in front of Monkey Island and stood for the longest time. I thought perhaps he saw me and perceived a threat. Or, maybe he heard me and was either considering my request or seeking to answer my question.
The first word I heard was “patience.” He stood utterly motionless for what seemed like hours. I watched the water move about him in circular currents, one merging with the other. It was a beautiful sight to see. A painting I may attempt someday. The heron stood as if frozen in time, as the currents moved past him and all around him. They encircled him then subsided. Still, there he stood like a statue, unmoving, one eye peering in my direction. “I’m not a predator,” I said.
“Your eyes tell me otherwise.” He replied.
I stood still, allowing him to perceive that I was not a threat, just curious and receptive. Then I saw the other thing that held him captive in that spot. It was Monkey Island, an obstacle. He stood before the obstacle and waited for what seemed like an eternity to me. I hadn’t noticed the raft as an obstacle before. I think I heard him call it that. “Obstacle.”
I wonder if he will go around it or fly over it, I thought.
No sooner had the thought left my head than he lifted his foot above the water, stretched his head up high, and slowly, purposefully moved around the raft. He walked over the yellow rope fastening it to the shore for the winter. He ducked under the little plank we use as a bridge to it. He gracefully lifted his feet over the second yellow rope as if it were not even there. He then continued his walk along the shore, past the pine trees that border our yard from our neighbors, and then out of sight.
A heron crossed my path today. He shared his grandeur with me. He allowed me to watch and admire him. His message was patience, observation, and purposeful steps around obstacles. I feel blessed and inspired. Thank you, dear Blue Heron. You are mine, but more, you are yours, and you are everyone’s, a blessing in the form of Light, feathers, warmth, patience, and beauty.
© 2019. Eileen Patra. Eileen Patra is the author of “The Mystical Ark: A Vessel of Blessings” available at www.themysticalark.com and other fine retailers. She is also an ordained Unity minister guest speaking around the country bringing her message of Love, Light and Hope to people everywhere.
Photo courtesy of Scottslm/Pixabay
Carpenters and builders use a phrase, “Get a level on that,” which means placing a tool called a level on the surface of cabinets, shelving, and flooring to be sure they are not tipped too far in one 
The close of a calendar year is a traditional time for reflection; a review of the year’s finest moments and its challenges. In preparation for a new year there are often a number of things we choose to leave behind. Perhaps you’ve experienced a loss, a physical challenge, a relationship issue, a career bump, or a financial upset. Then there are the things we experience together; divisiveness in government, hurricanes, out of control fires, tsunamis, terrorism, and mass shootings. Who wouldn’t want to leave these things behind?
Think about how a PENDULUM works. It is drawn from its center by a force or energy. Eventually, after swinging to and fro, it will return to center as the force of gravity pulls it back. If more force or energy is applied to the original swing, the return to center will be delayed. The workings of a PENDULUM are predictable and simultaneously miraculous; predictable as a law of physics, miraculous in its manifestation of Truth. Spiritually, we are sometimes pulled from our center by outside energies and experiences. But just as predictable as the return of the PENDULUM, we too return to center. The miracle occurs when we make the conscious choice to defy the pull of outer energies and return right here, right now to our spiritual center. The laws of physics are predictable, but the Law of Principle, the nature of God, the power of God within us, transcends the laws of physics. This we experience as the miraculous. Today I remember the miracle of the PENDULUM and I apply the force of Spirit upon the PENDULUM of emotion and I return quickly and easily to center. From this place in the center of me I let my light shine that others may see the presence of God and be returned to center as well. 
GRATITUDE is the miraculous awareness that one is surrounded and supported by Divine Love; that a need or desire has been anticipated and met. GRATITUDE is a universal feeling, a miraculous state of being with the power to open our entire being to a receptive state of consciousness. When we are in GRATITUDE we are in alignment with our higher self and with the Source of our being. GRATITUDE and miracles are synonymous, for it is GRATITUDE that opens the door to the experience of all that is miraculous. As I look for miracles in everyday life, I find that I look for those things I feel most grateful for. GRATITUDE is a feeling, an energy, a vibration and a portal to the miraculous. As I recognize and appreciate the many gifts of life my awareness expands, and my eyes are open to even more. GRATITUDE has the capacity to open the heart, relax tightened muscles and release feelings of fear, anger and separation. One cannot be grateful and angry simultaneously. One cannot be grateful and fearful at once. GRATITUDE is the recognition of God-ness in expression as miracles, large and small, dancing in the rhythm of Life.
TENTS seemed quite a miraculous thing to me as a child. I recall pinning a blanket to the top of the fence in a neighbor’s yard, stretching it out and holding the lower edge with rocks to form my own little refuge from the world. Inside the TENT we could hide, giggle, tell stories and share secrets. It was a world unto itself, yet temporary, easily moved to another place for another day. Have you ever thought about the physical forms that we walk around in as being like those TENTS? Our bodies provide a virtual TENT in which we can find a bit of refuge from the vastness of the universe. They are a private place in which we hold our own personal thoughts and ideas. We tell ourselves stories about the world and our lives. Sometimes we laugh and sometimes we cry. And when we close our eyes we can close out the physical world around us and reconnect with the vastness of the universe, with the very essence of Life which is greater than all the stories we tell ourselves. A TENT is a miraculous idea providing shelter wherever we go. Our bodies, the physical body, the energy body, and the spiritual body, provide a place of refuge too. Within them we can close the door to outer appearances aligning our minds with the Mind of God, the ultimate shelter that transcends time and space and all that has appeared before us.
RIVERS are the miraculous pathways the crisscross the earth moving life-giving water from one place to another. Like streams of energy, they move toward the lowest ground. Our spiritual body is an intricate system of energies connected by streams of thought, intention and vibration. Unlike RIVERS of water, we can easily direct the flow of energy in our being. We can choose to let it flow to the lowest space in our consciousness. Or, we can choose to direct our energies higher and bring the entire being into a state of balance or homeostasis. RIVERS are a manifestation of the miraculous process of flow infinitely occurring in our minds and in the universe. When we become aware of this process and our ability to direct the flow it becomes irresistible to step into it. And then, we become the RIVER crisscrossing the field of consciousness moving and directing life-giving energy from one thought to another. 
CLAIRVOYANCE, the ability to see beyond what is currently visible to the human eye is the miracle of Spiritual Vision or seeing with the Mind’s eye. This is not an ability conferred upon the few, but an ability inherent in all. If I invite you to think about a blue butterfly, an image comes to mind of a blue butterfly. It may not be a picture-perfect image, but you know what you are seeing in your mind’s eye. The “Clairvoyant” has simply learned to utilize this invisible sense to a higher degree. Seeing the invisible, that which has not yet occurred or that which occurred millennia ago only requires that we transcend what the physical eyes behold. Time, is an illusion, relative to our current position in the universe. In Spirit, all things occur simultaneously so seeing what has not yet occurred is simply looking beyond what the physical eyes, bound by time and space are beholding. With practice, we can increase the ability to SEE beyond the physical, to SEE beyond the appearance of limitation and separation. We do not alter the future in doing so. Instead, we alter our own consciousness which in turn changes what we bring forth next. CLAIRVOYANCE, is the miracle of Spiritual Sight inherent in all. It is intended to be utilized, not “… hidden under a basket.”
FEET are the miraculous extremity upon which we stand and walk. An ingenious collection of bones, muscles and tendons, our FEET support our bodies and carry us from one place to another. Our FEET connect us to the ground, physically and energetically. In the book of Exodus, God tells Moses to remove the sandals from his FEET, for the ground where is stands is holy ground. As our understanding of God expands, we recognize God as omnipresent and discover that all ground is holy ground. What keeps us from experiencing the place where we stand as holy, is anything we place between us and what is sacred and whole. If we are to leave a place of bondage and limitation, we must remove the sandals from our FEET. To remove the energetic sandals, would be to remove anything that separates us from an awareness of oneness with God and the sacredness of life. Our FEET are designed to stand and to walk fearlessly in the assurance that wherever we go, wherever we walk, God is and all is well.
Eileen Patra 