I love this time of year when the darkness is brightened by Christmas lights and warm fires.  I feel the call to hibernate.  To go within and reflect on the year that  is coming to a close and begin to set my intentions for the year to come.  

 

All of this is happening a little late for me this year because of the recent passing of my dear niece, Songja Ono, who released her struggle with brain cancer on December 5, 2015.  A very bright light in the world went out and a new star was born that day.  I will miss her presence in my life.

 

So given the time of year and the state of my own heart, it feels very fitting to share the poem that came from my Black Madonna painting, She Hears Our Cries. I feel like I transcribed this poem more than I wrote it.  I sat quietly with her at the end of the process and asked her if she wanted the pen.  Her message is below.  I made an audio version for you, too, in case you would like to sit quietly and allow her words to wash over your heart.

 

I send my love and best wishes for a holiday season full of joy and good times with friends and family.  I hope you will remember to take time to breathe and remember that the light that so many celebrate at this time of year lives there inside you.  It is who you are.  May the beauty of your being be the flame that lights the darkness. 

 

She Hears Our Cries

 

Listen.

I am crying

as the world is crying.

I am loving

That is my gift.

I hold you all

In my heart.

The more the world cries

The brighter I become,

shedding light on all the dark spaces.

I understand dark spaces

It is who I am

Who we are

And there is deep wisdom

In the dark places.

Look. There.

That shadow holds within it the space for the light.

That shadow shows the light.

Do you understand?

We need not fear the dark places.

We must embrace them,

just as we do the tears

shed by those who cry.

We do not deny the pain that brings the tears

And so we cannot, we must not

Deny the dark that illumines the light.

I was here before the world began.

I will be here always and forever.

Know me.

Know my wisdom and my depths.

And know the light I hold for the world

And for you.

Beauty in the darkness

Color in the night

I will hold your heartaches

I will bring the light.

Look and see me now,

There so deep within

Emerging from the darkness

Let us now begin.

–Tina Greene