all images and stories are the property of Catherine Beerda-Basso and are not to be used without given permission...thank you

Wednesday 26 September 2012

Autumn Harvest, Decay and other Random Thoughts


The time of Harvest has come...
our garden
which has not had it's best run
it brimming with the fruits of it's labours


Strange time, Autumn
a time of coming to full life
and yet also
a time of life ending into decay...


no other season offers the two sides
the balance of life and death
as Autumn does...


This is my favourite time of year
the colours
the smells
the cold nibble in the air
it is my season


This weekend I am heading for Retreat...
"Prayers and Stillness"
I am looking forward to this
I am in need of this 


I am going with my 
it has been a year since our first
"accidental" retreat...
a retreat that birthed this blog...


I am looking forward 
to seeing what this gathering brings forth
I am facilitator this year
but have left much up to Spirit
to guide, mould and shape this retreat


things have already started inside
much like this season
there has been fruit and decay
already beginning within me


I can't be sure of what is to come
I can't be sure of what God has in store for me
but 
I can be sure we will be spoken to
I can be sure we will be opened
I can be sure, that once again
the soil will be churned
fruit will appear
what is old will decay
and seeds will be planted


I look forward to sharing with you the harvest
that I receive....
till then
be good to you
be kind to others
love like it is your last day to love
and remember sisters
you are free...

a song by my amazing Sister of the Wood...Cathy Hardy


What is your harvest and decay looking like 
my lovelies?
and for you in the Southern Hemisphere
what is your re-brith looking like?

see you all soon
Love and Light



Monday 24 September 2012

Mondays Offering...Broken Free...Part 3


(part one and two found here)

every road has its turns
every road has its pot holes
every road has its darker times
sometimes it is hard to see what is coming 
because of the bend in the road
this can leave us
uncertain
uncomfortable
unsure
*
I went to bed tender that night
Fact is I am still walking with the residual effects 
of that day
walking lightly
being more kind to myself...


the morning after the break down, break open
I went down to my "church"
meaning I took the dog out for an early morning run
I wanted to start my day well
I wanted to believe all was going to be okay
but in order to believe
I had to move
and was I glad I did.
The morning was cool 
as the fog still hung in the air.
The farmlands were still quiet
and the running dykes empty.
Within 5 minutes of me starting my run
I realized the Puppy Prince was acting a little strange
I looked towards the direction of his gaze 
and there on the other side of the small water way
was a coyote
running along side of me!
He ran with me for almost a minute
and then stopped suddenly.
I was thrilled
it was such an amazing experience us running together looking at one another,
I could feel my heart expand
I knew it was a sign.


I thought it strange how he stopped so suddenly
and without a howl
but
I did not over think it and continued 
around the bend.
There is the cranberry field beside me
I saw what I thought was
a black garbage bag....
but no
as I got closer
I dare not even say to myself
what I thought it was...
not out of fear
just out of complete hope that is was
what I thought it was 
and I did not want to be let down
when I found out it wasn't...
BUT IT WAS
a big black bear
sitting in the cranberry field
enjoying his morning meal
I stopped in front of him
looking at him 
as he looked back at me
It was such a moment.
We stayed like that until Puppy Prince
came back wondering what the hold up was
and saw said bear
thus he started barking and 
running up and down the dyke
thus scaring the bear
who then ran off further into the field...


two amazing gifts
two intimate encounters
I felt my joy over flow
how different this morning was
compared to the morning before!
I was laughing out loud
as tears rolled down my face
"How blessed am I ?"
I raised my hands and gave thanks...
and there was more
beavers
herons
geese
they were all there to welcome me
to remind me
to give me hope and
affirmation...
causing me to
BREAK FREE!
*
Life has a way of pushing us
especially if we ask for wholeness
and I have
I asked for freedom
and to live as fully as I can
in this life...
it can hurt
but the rewards 
far out weigh the challenges...
*
"I am Vulnerable to the Elements of Life
A Tree
Exposed to the heat of Summer
                 the cold of Winter
                      the winds of Autumn
                  the rains of Spring
I embrace it all
the Truth of Life
and what it holds for me
The revealing of each Season
The Death and Rebirth
The rotting away and the Revival
I stand
firmly rooted
open
I do not Hide
I say
"Here I am"
I may offend
but if you try to cut me down
you will see your axe has no power
over me
I stand in the Truth of
The Great Magic
The Great Source of all Life
Only when It desires will I crumble back
into the earth from which I grew
ashes to ashes-dust to dust
Till that happens
I remain
Light Shining
Love Flowing
Truth Living
I remain"
~Catherine Beerda-Basso
copyright 2012




"I move slow and steady...
past the ones that I used to know."

A slow and steady Monday to you my lovelies!
Love and Light








Friday 21 September 2012

Broken Open...Part Two

"Crisis, change, all the myriad upheavals that blister the spirit and leave us groping-- they aren't voices simply of pain but also of creativity. and if we would only listen, we might hear such times beckoning us to a season of waiting, to the place of fertile emptiness."

"The fullness of one's soul evolves slowly. We're asked to go within to gestate the newness God is trying to form; we're asked to collaborate with Grace
That doesn't mean that Grace isn't a gift. Nor does it mean that the deliberate process of waiting produces Grace. but waiting does provide the time and space necessary for Grace to happen. spirit needs a container to pour itself into. Grace needs an arena in which to incarnate. Waiting can be such a place, if we allow it."

~Sue Monk Kidd
taken from her book 
"When The Heart Waits"


Broken Open...Part Two
(part one found here)

I burst into the house
My husband awaiting me there
My words were unrecognizable
My voice barely a whisper
my body shaking
I wanted to disappear
I longed to sink into the Blackness
I had not felt this way for a very long time
years
And the last time I did 
I went "away" for a while
Lost inside myself
*
It took sometime
As the first reaction to such deep emotions
is the fight
But then I remembered
I remembered and recognized
My own Broken Open


Broken Open
Being Exactly how it sounds
like glass hitting the tile floor
The sound is startling
the impact painful
The dismembering frightening
*
But
in my memories
lay the Truth
And though
in those moments
I was uncertain about facing my day
Unsure about if I could face clients,
work,
the world
My memories took me
to the bottom of the Ocean
where Stillness and Calm reign
Where there was nothing to fear
Nothing to confuse
nothing to hurt
And it was there
in that Cathedral
where God came and sat with me
until I was ready to resurface


So in those memories
from years ago
I found strength
Strength enough to walk thru my day
Courage enough to not give in to the voices
Truth enough to know
All was happening as it should
My heart....broken
Widen open and exposed
Yet covered and held
And as my day went on
the tenderness of the Truth
allowed me to continue on....


...more to come

Love and Light






Thursday 20 September 2012

Broken Down...Part One


(this three part story chronicles resent events of my life...
taken from my journal and shared
for all those who walk this journey
and ingest the ups and downs
of said journey
deep into their soul)

Broken Down

On this day my world cracked open
on this day the levy broke
On this day
whatever had a hold of me
or
whatever I had a hold of
let go
and a new normal came to be
*
The day started as a good day
which had not always been
as the journey through summer
though good,
had been trying
with jagged rocks and deathly cliffs
So a day that began easy and light
was a  welcome day indeed.


I went down to get some work supplies
chatting with the Lovely there
whom I've known for years
When I was taking my leave 
she asked me to wait
so she could give me samples
I waited, with great gratitude
as these samples would go down with my
on my next trip to Colombia
and this I told her
when she returned,
bag of goodies in hand.
She smiled and told me that is what she had thought.
She remembered 4 years ago 
when I had first gone
and was collecting back then.
i thanked her
and as I drove away 
I felt so blessed by her gesture
and as I drove to my next morning destination
I gave my gratitude to God
voiced my thankfulness
and was warmed thru out my body
by the morning sun.


The came my next stop
A place to renew important legal documents
They had not been open for 15 minutes
when i walk in
And already
the air was thick with negativity
(Could people really be this unhappy at the start of their day?)
It went from bad to worse
I felt choked and boxed in
My efforts to stay in my place of joy
were no match for what was in this place....
I spoke with two separate woman
Both cut from the same piece of cardboard
Flat
No Colour
Lacking any Life
And it was all I could do to
not slide down their Rabbit Hole with them
I could not bet out of there quick enough
And as the door closed to my car,
Cocooning me in this familiar space
I Broke Down


Waves and Waves
of uncontrollable emotions bubbled up
and poured out
None of which I could contain
The time of Holding it Together had ended
The cards had scattered
As my body shook.
*
There was more I had to do
but there was no way to do them
I drove home
angels carrying me as I went
for truly
I should not have been behind that wheel.....

more to come....

Love and Light