"What's bad is good"

posted by Mary Lello, Saturday, April 17, 2010, 5:45 AM

The Sunday after the fund raising dinner Jim and I joined our friends the Cochran's for breakfast. When we returned home I got out of the car and noticed a small flock of Seagulls harassing a huge bird directly overhead. Eagle. I pointed the Eagle out to Jim who saw it immediately. As we watched this bird another one appeared and the gulls seemed to just disappear. These two Eagles then floated on some unseen air current directly over our heads. They circled in so close we could see their eyes. Nobody spoke, we all just stared at this amazing spectacle that was lasting far longer then I've ever experienced. I whispered into JIm's ear "send your prayer with them, they take them directly up" ... and, yes, I sent my prayer with these majestic birds too. After stating the prayer they both flew off out over the bay.

Judy Cochran looked over and said, "wow, that was amazing!" And indeed it was.

In the book Broken, by Lisa Jones, she documents the story of an Arapaho man, Stanford Addison, who lives on the WInd River reservation. At the age of 20 Stan was in a car accident that left him a quadriplegic and bound to a wheel chair for the rest of his life. Stanford spent many years trying to kill himself until he finally settled into his, initially, unwanted gift of spiritual powers. He is now a well known medicine man and astounding healer.

Stanford Addison tells Lisa "what's bad is good .... it helps you find your center..." I've thought about this quote a lot. I've said it to myself many times when I've collapsed on the couch or crumpled into a heap on the floor ... if this doesn't help me find my center nothing will I guess. But there is a change happening, there is a shift and there is a centering that seems to be going on within me.

Stanford says about Eagles, "they carry the prayers up; they hear and see the help that's needed; they see real clear man, they see almost right through you .... they're looking at your soul, not your body". Yes, the day the Eagles circled us this quote was in my mind and I truly felt that Jim and I were being "seen".

Jones writes of some of the teachings she learned from the 5 years she spent visiting the Arapaho reservation and spending time with Stanford Addison: "to bow to the unknown, to honor the mysterious interconnectedness, to see the only way to security [is] through surrender."

I surrender. At times I am forced to let it go, to bow to all this unknown that has been heaped upon us and to trust that the Universe is watching. And honestly, I feel that power at times. I do find that when I let go, I receive what is needed. I struggle with the security part but I certainly honor the mysterious. When Eagles soar over Jim and I how can I NOT honor that .... and send my prayers with them for the help that is needed here in this little spot on earth.

Loving you all back,

Mary