On my walk today a feather drifted down right in front of me. It tickled me on the nose. When I looked up, there was no bird in the sky at that moment so perhaps it had already flown by.
Returning home in time for my afternoon meditation and contemplation, I opened a small book called Devotions, Prayers and Living Wisdom of Hildegard of Bingen, edited by Mirabai Starr.
It opened to Chapter Three to a story called, The Feather. Doesn’t that just make you smile? Since my plan was to write this article after my meditation, I decided it’s perfect to share with you today.
The Feather
One morning, the abbess (Hildegard) was leaning out the window of her cell, overlooking the Rhine. A breath of wind fluttered her veil and carried the scent of water to her face. She closed her eyes and inhaled deeply.
When she open them again, she glimpsed something drifting past her window: a small downy feather. Unable to move of its own power, completely surrendered to the wind, the feather drifted across the sky and disappeared from sight.
In that moment, Hildegard was suddenly able to articulate the teaching she had been struggling to offer in an unfinished letter to her friend, Abbot Phillip. She rushed inside and picked up the stylus and vellum where she had left them. She told him about the small feather being carried by the wind.
“Surely the Almighty arranged this,” she wrote, “to show what the Divine could achieve through a creature that had no thought of achieving anything by itself.”
What a relief it is to know that we do not have to heave these heavy forms up to God. All we have to do is surrender and we will be lifted.
Reading this story, it seems so wonderful that another feather centuries later carried her message to you and me. And I felt it was such a perfect message for the moment, don’t you agree? Surrender is surely the order of the day as we struggle to make peace with all that cannot be controlled by us. In this moment let’s relax together with a sign and surrender in our trust of life.
I love how life talks back to us, it’s always a dialogue, every day a communion of wisdom and care. Look for your own spirit message, I’m sure it will arrive soon. Perhaps it will be a feather, perhaps something or someone else will speak to you. But one thing every spirit message says is, “You are dearly loved.”
Which is my other message especially for you today.
Much love,
~ X♥️Ma HuLiLi
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