Cynthia S. Terwilliger

Here are a few of the things I have written over the years that I think are worth sharing.  Hope you do, too.

A river, to reach its outlet, travels along a curving, serpentine path - the straightaways are there because that is where the rapids and the waterfalls exist.  They have grooved a straight path.  They are in the flow, too.  This is where the vitality of the river is.  This is where the motion and the movement and the power is.  You must learn to trust that you are as much in the flow in the rough water as well as the smooth.

The silent, still pools are places of rest.  If you have asked for guidance to be put where you need to be with the people, circumstances and situations that are for your highest good and unabashedly say, "Here I am!" - and find yourself catapulting down the rapids, heading for the falls - RELAX - and go with the flow.

If your kayak capsizes, go with the rolls; it will right itself.  If your barrel is heading over the falls, keep your head, your arms and your feet inside and breathe.  The barrel will bounce back to the still, surface water like a fishing bobber.  It is the nature of things.

We are nature.  There is no separation.  What exists in nature exists in us.  The laws of the universe, of nature, and of physics are our laws, too.

Trust that this process that holds it all together, that keeps it revolving and is predicably wonderful, is working in you and your affairs.

God does not miss tricks, make mistakes or say, "oops".  Trust that the universal power in you is orderly, loving, protecting and guiding.  The journey down the river is worth the ride.

View from the Rim

I stand on the precipice of the Grand Canyon looking down on this mountain range beneath the surface of flat land, high desert Arizona.  I smell the pine of the North Rim.  I see the hand of God spread across endless expanse of shadowed monoliths cooling the earth with with tans and rusts and soft-shelled whites.  A deep breath takes me into it all.  I, too, am in my right place, balanced on my shifting, sedimentary rock ledge.

And if I lose my footing and slip and slide or tumble down and escarpment as old as time, I will still be in my right place, a part of the whole expanse.  A creator of a new perspective, a new landscape.

As I stand alone with nature, knowing my oneness with it all, the veil drops and I know who and what I am - a child of the universe and a part of the whole.  The reality of life returns.  Life is in harmony.  It is fair and it is orderly.  The power of God is moving beneath my feet,  Barely perceptible at times, and I always have the wonders that I deserve.  An awareness of a rich, wonderful, abundant world which is always ready to let me know my place.

It is All Good

I believe that generosity of spirit is eternal.  Every effort of love is undying, all kindness continues to bless, and each "I love you" echoes through this dimension and dimensions unseen.  

Wonderful Things Ahead

Five months before my friend died, I flew down to spend a weekend with her and work in her yard.  She loved to garden.  It was becoming increasing difficult as the cancer progressed.  We talked quite a bit that weekend about the reality that was before us.  She was going to die.

As we were tending a flower bed, we talked about weeds and their undying tenancy to grow and disrupt the orderly patterns of a well-ordered garden.  We talked about the live oak tree and its apparent unending abundance of acorns that sprouted wherever they fell.  And we talked about algae in the fish pond and its treat of taking over every inch of clear water if not removed.  

We came around to talking about life and death and found it all before us in the garden.