What You Get is What You See?

I have always been fascinated by a truth which is a tenet of prosperity: “what you manifest is dependent upon what you “see”. If you see with wisdom you tend to manifest more, if you see with care you tend to manifest more…and on and on.

Well, as in manifesting prosperity, so it is in receiving insight from what we see….if we make the time to observe.

On a recent adventure to one of my favorite places, “Celebration”, Florida, I was sitting on a rocker by the lake sipping tea. It was a quiet moment shared with my soul sister who, like me, is open to messages in nature.

Much to our amazement, an anhinga plopped itself in front of us. It was about 2-3 feet away as if on “stage” about to reveal its messages to us.
In the quiet, we made the time to observe.

At first, the anhinga, often called snake bird of the Everglades, was standing sideways to us, standing so regally.    

I thought that is what is required, to “stand in one’s own truth”, expresses our royalty, our Divine Inheritance.

Then the bird turned its head and buried its beak into its wings. I called that movement “surrendering”.

And I thought of one of my favorite lines in the Serenity prayer, “God give me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change. “Easier said than done, but so necessary, if one wants to lead a prosperous peace-filled life.

In the third movement of the anhinga’s message, the bird looked up to the sky, I named my photo of that “Look up to the heavens and believe”. There is a beautiful affirmation that reads “never doubt that God is guiding you”. Never doubt that we are being guided.

Another way of saying that is, “always believe” that we are being guided. My studies have guided me to a walking prayer practice where I deliberately call forth the Divine Guidance and the Divine Mastery of God to express itself through me. I remembered the consolation derived from that practice to which I returned later that day.

And in the fourth movement, extending its beautiful wings, I was struck by the invitation to also do so.How many times as a child I used to play outside in our driveway, where a 3 foot “cliff” overlooked the driveway of our neighbor. I remember day after day jumping off that 3 foot overhang thinking “surely I can fly AGAIN”. I have such a strong belief in angels everywhere, yet my belief in my own angelic being can wane in the face of the density I feel when I am too much about this world and not enough in the world of the contemplative lifestyle I favor.

As the time to say goodbye for now came to an end, I left and the anhinga stayed. I thanked this creature for being such a powerful messenger. Now to live the message.

“I want to sing like the birds sing, not worrying about who hears or what they think,” Rumi, the Persian Mystic.