The color of springtime is in the flower;

the color of winter is in the imagination.

-Ward Elliot Hour-

This January I’m imagining the whole world being in on a conspiracy of love. It’s a contrasting image to the one I’m seeing in the various media outlets that seem to thrive on conflict, violence, fear and craving. It’s an attempt to transcend the levels of falsehood with the levels of truth that affirm, inspire and reveal love, joy and peace on earth. It’s an understanding that we conceive what we perceive, that thoughts create things and we create our own realities. I’m deliberately working daily to see with these new eyes.

I must say that this is more difficult than I thought it might be as I continually fall back into the negativity of my disappointments with what’s going on and what’s not. I find my mind drifting off into past scenes where life seemed to be more kind and gentle, more understanding and meaningful, more optimistic and hopeful. Maybe it’s because I’ve been around long enough to experience what I thought was an age of innocence when it was really an age of anxiety, prideand passive aggression.

I remember the summer of nineteen sixty eight and the flower power years that followed. I remember Colorado when most mountain towns were not tourist attractions and when it was easy to live on a few hundred dollars a month. I remember when the color of winter was in our imaginations and our imaginations created new realities. All these years later, these remembrances seem like dreams, like figments of my imagination; so why not imagine thewhole world being in on a conspiracy of love that’s now birthing?

As we reflect on the birthing process, isn’t the most difficult part the actual delivery? Having been with my wife and also with our daughter when each gave birth, it seemed that the most concentrated pain and difficulty came in the actual process of giving birth. In both cases it took a significant amount of time, needed assistance and was an exhausting experience. Birthing cattle and horses was also a trying experience that came with signs to alert us and fill us with anticipation, surprise, mystery and ultimate delight.

Ponder the process of our global community being involved in a conspiracy of love that’s requiring a massive birthing process over time that we measure in centuries rather than in hours. What if the closer we get to the birthing, the more difficult it becomes? Can you imagine this? Can you see how this perspective reshapes the images, emotions and potentialities for new and extraordinary energies that can assist us in the birthing process? Can you see the beauty in the analogy for this moment in time?

If the color of winter is in the imagination, then it’s time for some outlandish imagining as we wrap ourselves in the creative imagery of this season of soul. It’s time to imagine birthing a new world in every thought, word and action we engage. As we all set about conspiring to birth love in our daily interactions, aren’t we actually bringing about this evolutionary trajectory? Aren’t we all the ones we’ve been waiting for? Might this be the time for an ongoing transformational conspiracy of love for our global community?

I invite you to join with me in this conspiracy of love on a daily basis; to create the color of winter in your imagination with the color and textures of Love. When you find yourself in indifference, anger, disappointment, fear, despair and blame, STOP! Look at the recipe again and see that it says: Add more Love,like sugar, flour and water. It’s an essential ingredient in the recipe for abundant life and when we all conspire, imagine the possibilities! Stop, look, listen and add more love. Create the reality that transcends all misery and includes all serenity. Isn’t this what we’re here for? Imagine it, act on it now and every day for the rest of your life and notice the change it makes in you and those around you over time. What do you say? ? ?

Recognizing Winter as a powerful season of soul, engage this silent conspiracy and talk with your family and friends about it. Imagine the power of this conspiracy if two and three and fifty make a billion people adding more love daily for the next decade: Transformation!

Remember that adding more love to any given situation begins with you. To love and reverence your many selves changes behavior, deepens awareness and invites your True Self to be seen and embraced. Discover your enoughness and no matter what mis-takes you make, add more love and kindness to the recipe. In doing so, you will change the world! Remember to Remember……..Little by little we accomplish much………Blessings All Ways………

With Love and great Hope,
Fr. Rick+