Kathryn woke just before dawn and slipped out of bed. She left her husband sleeping soundly and made her way through the camp towards the Appalachian Trail. She knew the path well as she travelled it twice a day whenever she stayed at the camp. She was headed to Bear Rock Falls. There were two paths Kathryn could take. She could follow the water to the falls or she could climb up to the ridge and follow that. She decided to walk the ridge. She walked quickly until she reached a particular tree that had been blown over by the wind. She stood marveling at the roots that had been pulled out of the ground. She ran her hand over the web of roots. Beautiful, Kathryn wispered. She took a deep breath and continued towards the falls. She stopped again before reaching the falls to admire a broken root extending from a tree. Each time she saw it, she thought of a little fairy slide and smiled. Even after all these years, it still held its charm. Once again, Kathryn continued toward the falls. She heard the rushing water moments before she reached the top. As she stepped on the rock ledge next to the waterfall, the trees were gone. The sun was moments away from breeching the horizon. Kathryn sat to watch. Her thoughts travelled to the religous conversations she had been having of late. She closed her eyes, shook her head, and wondered why she even bothered. It always led to defensiveness. She took a deep breath and opened her eyes. It is not that Kathryn didnt know the Sacred. It is hard not to feel its presence and connections if one just opened their eyes and their hearts. It was everywhere. And moments like this where Kathryn sat next to the waterfall, she felt it strongest. When she came here alone in the mornings there were no distractions. It was just her, her thoughts, and the Sacred. Most of the world did not operate this way. Most of the world followed a religion called Christianity. This in and of itself wouldnt be so bad, thought Kathryn. However, Christianity was very pervasive. It claimed to be the one right way to connect to the Sacred. If one didnt follow it, they were persecuted, pityed, or considered lost. Kathryn closed her eyes again and thought, I do not deserve any of those. When she opened her eyes, the sun was just beginning to breach the horizon. Kathryn could feel a humming begin to vibrate in her heart. The birds were singing their glorious morning tune. Some bugs were flying about. The water from the fall sprayed at Kathryn from time to time. Kathryn thought on how at this precise moment she was experiencing a bit of Heaven. Heaven. That is a Christian term. Everything Kathryn had to describe the Sacred comes from Christianity. Yet Kathryn didnt view the words the same way. Heaven wasnt a place above us. She didnt even really believe it was a separate place. Heaven was just a word that represented some place peaceful and calm. In Christianity, it is the place you go to when you die if you are in the grace of God. Despite having heard this all her life, this concept did not resonate with Kathryn. She believed that people were always connected to the Sacred because the Sacred resided within each and every person. Upon reflection, Kathryn supposed that this Sacred inside of each person could best be thought of as a soul. Kathryn knew that when someone or some animal or plant died, its soul was released from the body. She knew that there was a sense of the sacred beyond life, but Kathryn could only sense some vast void that was nothing and everything. She thought of this as the Heaven that Christians discussed. It was and it wasnt. To say the least, it was all very confusing. The recent conversations brought Kathryn to the Christian bible. So many Christians view the bible as the one true word. Yet when Kathryn read through the bible she could not understand why anyone would put faith in it. Someone had shared that to have Gods voice would calm, comfort, convict, encourage, enlighten, lead, reassure, and still. Satan on the otherhand would cause one to obssess, worry, condemn, discourage, confuse, push, frighten, rush. This was very confusing to Kathryn. Kathryn felt her connection to the Sacred brought her the descriptions under God. However, when she reviewed the bible, the God there gave her the emotions from the Satan descriptions. How could this be if the bible is supposed to be the word of God? Kathryn closed her eyes and shook her head again. None of this made sense. When she opened her eyes and looked at the rising sun again, it was halfway risen. Her mind continued back to her conversations. The bible was word. The bible states Hell is being absent of God and a place reserved for Satan his demons and those who do not believe in Gods one and only son! Kathryn couldnt believe how this statement put her on the defense. All the love and acceptance and nonjudgement did not change that Christians would condemn her to Hell - a place meant to torture those who had done horrid, horrid acts to others. It put not following Christianity at the same level as someone who malicously hurts others. Kathryn closed her eyes again and she felt the tears well up in them. Her mind screamed out, I AM NOT EVIL! Good Morning, a small voice said. Kathryn wiped her eyes quickly before turning to the person who just intruded upon her. It was a young, sandy-haired girl, maybe about eight years old. No one normally came up to watch the sunrise so this intrusion was unexpected and surprising for it to be from such a young person. Kathryn looked behind the girl and asked, where is your mother? My father knows I am here, the girl said. May I sit with you? Please do, Kathryn said politely. Then she asked, What brings you here so early? It is a beautiful morning, the girl responded. And it seems that you need some company. Kathryn looked at the little girl with a confused expression. She did not need company. In fact, this was a bad time for company. It was interfering with her inner thoughts. She would not express this to the young girl though. Instead, Kathryn asked, what is on your mind this morning? The sandy-haired girl tilted her head looking at Kathryn then after a moment of silence said, You are not of Jesus. Kathryns jaw just about dropped. However, she recovered herself and responded confidently, no, I am not. The sandy-haired girl continued without acknowledging Kathryns uncomfortablness, but you are of the light plane? I suppose you could put it that way, Kathryn replied. The girl never took her eyes off Kathryn, Jesus doesnt think you are evil. Why would he state that? Excuse me? Kathryn asked. She was officially floored. Who was this girl? How is it that she happened upon her this morning? How is it that she seemed to know what Kathryn had been thinking about? The sandy-haired girl repeated herself, Jesus doesnt think you are evil. Why would he state that? I can see you are not evil. She looked expectanctly at Kathryn for an answer. Well, Kathryn began wondering why she was even answering the girl. I suppose it is because people think I am evil because I am not of Jesus. I am of the Sacred. I am of God, but I come to him differently. The girl smiled, Jesus says he understands. This conversation was feeling too strange for Kathryn. She needed to shift things. Where is your father? Shall I walk with you until we find him. No, thats ok. I know where he is. I will go to him now, the sandy-haired girl said to Kathryn. She stood and began walking away. She turned before reaching the trees and said, Jesus said love is the most important comandment. The girl turned and ran into the woods. Kathryn stood to follow the girl, but when she looked, the sandy-haired girl was nowhere to be seen. Kathryn stood there in shock. Had the Sacred just sent her a messenger? Kathryn sat back down next to the waterfall. She looked at the rising sun. It was now completely over the horizon. She looked out over the trees below and thought about what had happened. What had it meant? Had the sandy-haired girl been a messenger from God? Was it a message from the Sacred? Was it confirming for Kathryn what she already knew deep in her heart but had been challenged by the mainstream religion? Jesus said she wasnt evil. He had to have known Kathryns reasoning for having that feeling. So, did those words mean that Jesus did not condemn her to an eternity in hell as the Christian Bible states? When the sandy-haired girl said Jesus understands, was that making Kathryns way of connecting to the Sacred just as valid? And to say that the most important commandment is love? Was the sandy-haired girl stating that out of all the things religously put out there that love is the most impotant thing in being connected to the Sacred? Kathryn sat there dumbfounded. She felt a yes to all those questions. An answer of yes resonated as what was the truth. Yet Kathryn knew from her own experiences that a human can interpret messages wrong. She did not want to misinterpret what happened. Yet she couldnt help but feel that the Sacred had come to reassure her that the path she was on was a good path. Christianity is not the only path. Kathryns path was not the only path. There was no one right path. There was, in fact, more than one way to be connected. As Kathryn sat next to the waterfall, she cried. She came to the waterfall to connect with the Sacred. As she sat next to it, she felt as though a piece of the Sacred had reached out to her. It didnt matter what others said. Kathryn did not need to get defensive when others spouted a different way. The differences were only semantics. The heart was the most important thing.
Posted on: Thu, 07 Aug 2014 22:54:10 +0000