Church Not Made With Hands

"Now The Lord God had planted a garden in the East, in Eden; and there he put the Man he had formed." (Gen 2:8) 

"The Church not made with hands, not contained by man, that precious place unmade by man...." The old Waterboys tune came to mind this week after a couple conversations with new folks interested in coming out on retreat. One inquirer asked if someone not necessarily into the practice of yoga would benefit. The answer? Absolutely. In establishing the Higher Haven, there was a natural movement toward the world of Yoga practitioners, given the popularity of the practice as well as the yogic mindset toward self development and spiritual growth. As stated elsewhere on this site, "Taking a journey of health, transformation and fullfillment is open to everyone, and the benefits of practice can soon be yours, regardless of your current level of physical fitness." We've had some newcomers to yoga take to and enjoy the practice thoroughly. But even beyond a focus on other practices like guided meditation instruction and Ceremonial  experience, just the simplified environment of being away and immersed in nature can be a real healer. 

Another caller conveyed aspects of her Christian background and affiliation with the Lutheran Church. "Our family is a family of faith," she explained. "But we understand that all people are children of God." Good one. I can relate, having a comfort with Christianity through a Catholic upbringing. I also went a little more hardcore during college, influenced by my girlfriends' sister, the first sincere, spiritually-centered person I ever met, and accepted Christ as my savior. Back then, I was quite sure I needed...  Something. Faith. God. Good Orderly Direction, as some people say. My own journey as a seeker continued - exploring indigenous healing methods and eastern Meditation practices - just as my understanding of sacred space - both in and outside traditional places of worship - evolves to this day. And I'm happy that its lead to offering a unified experience at The Higher Haven that transcends all creeds and categories, but includes all people. 

When I lived in downtown Chicago, I joined Fourth Presbyterian Church - "A Light In The City" - and still receive their Daily Devotions. A scripture reading came through this week on 2 Samuel, focused on David building a house for the Lord's name, and God in turn establishing the throne of David's kingdom forever. The Reflection on this Reading follows: "... we say that 'ground' or 'space' is made Holy only when the people of God gather for worship. Sanctuaries aren't Holy on their own, we claim. It takes the gathering of God's people to sanctify - or make Holy - space or ground. Despite our best efforts, stone and wood, gold and glass alone can't make a church building Holy. To put it plainly, it's only God's house when God shows up - and God only shows up when we show up together. 

David really wants to build a Temple for God. He wants to give God a dwelling place that is grand and fitting. But God stops David in his tracks: "Are you the one to build me a house to live in? I have not lived in a house since the day I brought up the people of Israel from Egypt to this day, but I have been moving about in a tent and a tabernacle." God reminds David that God is bigger than any one place and cannot be contained by people. God has remained with the people wherever they sojourned. In fact, God tells David that the people of God - you and me - serve as the home of God. 

That's a pretty radical understanding of creating a sanctuary or dwelling place for God. God is with us when we gather - wherever we gather. At the family dinner table after a long day: God dwells. At the bedside of the sick and dying: God dwells. Marching on Daley Plaza with the faithful for those without food, without homes, or without safety, God dwells. Wherever the faithful gather, God's presence abides. And that's a liberating concept. We don't need the four walls of the church to bid the presence of God, although sometimes that helps. We simply need willing and open hearts. God does the rest." Amen. 

Summer Herb Walk

Behold my invaluable stash of Indian Ghost Pipe, Monotropa Uniflora according to the Spirit of Science, or Corpse Plant. "Gold" in the words of Naturopath Maggie Conklin, of Ladyhawk Nutrition and Heirloom Academy of the Healing Arts, leader of last night's summer herb walk. After an hour of walking and talking and identifying various plants and their medicinal (and delectable) properties on a walk down to the Black River, Maggie recognized the dark understory of dense forest around the base of a juggernaut of a Beech Tree on the corner of the front yard as prime ground for the difficult propagation of Ghost Pipe. Then she discovered a significant patch of the delicate, waxy-white ethereal plant, aka "Gold!"

Maggie explained that the herb, unlike most, does not contain chlorophyll, a non-generator of energy from sunlight, hence its white-purple-red hue. Resembling a spine and brain stem, Ghost Pipe is a unique ally in helping human beings modulate sensory input. A tincture of the plant can be used in managing intense physical pain as well as emotional pain. "You pick it with a Mason Jar in your hand, fill the jar, immediately mix it with  100-proof vodka and let it sit for at least a week", the makings of a tincture with mere drops working quickly and dramatically in the face of deep-seated pain - degenerative discs, car accidents, a crushed pelvis and the like. Maggie clarified the mixture is made from harvesting the "aerial" parts of the Pipe, the part of the plant above ground. 

Uncovering a cool cache of Indian Ghost Pipe and getting down with botany vernacular were part of the epic close to our first  informative wooded walk. Being a new student and easily overwhelmed with information, I appreciated Maggie's intention to focus on six herbs - Dandelion, Yellow Dock, Burdock, Dogwood and Goldenrod. "Focus on six herbs for the next six months", she offered. Then concentrate on another six. Ten years from now you'll have quite the knowledge base." We noted Wild Cherry Bark (good for a soothing cough syrup), three-leaved Sassafras (high mineral content) and Black Walnuts (strong anti-viral properties). I'll definitely  be brewing up a batch of Staghorn Sumac tea for visiting relatives this weekend, as I hear through the proverbial grapevine the stuff tastes just like lemonade. Thanks to Maggie and everyone else who came out to make the first Higher Haven Herb Walk a botanical blast. Word has it we'll be gathering together again in September for an early fall mushroom walk and hope you'll join us in finding the clearest way into the Universe through a forest wilderness. 

Hai Cho Hai (2-4-2)

We hosted our second overnight retreat this past weekend, a 24-hour getaway short in duration but long in the ways of spiritual purification. Beginning the begin with lunch on Saturday, June 23rd and running through mid-morning Sunday, June 24th, yoga classes, sitting meditation, Ceremony and healthy, nourishing meals were sandwiched in between - often on gluten free bread. Orchestrating activities that develop people spiritually coupled with the sun-dappled, breezy atmosphere of a couple days living in nature allows people to shake free of agitation and disturbances for a time, offering opportunities to peek underneath the surface of their own lives. Like I explained to the student I was teaching meditation to this morning - a lot of folks want to rearrange the furniture on the sun deck of their lives, or make changes akin to swabbing the floor clean, working at outer constructs to tidy things up a bit. True sitting practice however takes you down into the psychic innards of your own self, down into the engine room, to the devices that drive the vessel that’s you.

It’s dark down there, it’s hot, and not all that comfortable. You’re going to sweat, exposing yourself to the grime and friction of those mechanisms, and there's a high probably you'll dirty up your little white tennis skirt. This is the nose to the grindstone vibe that inspired Carl Jung to say, “One does not become enlightened by imagining figures of light, but by making the darkness conscious. The latter procedure, however, is disagreeable and therefore not popular.” True at one time but today growing in popularity, as more and more people realize that despite its challenges, accessing the systems and sub-systems of your own makeup is worth the hassle, literally placing you in the cockpit of your own psychic Spitfire, feeling a lot less rudderless as you find your spot, the place where your world is born into being moment by moment. In time, guiding, directing and controlling - or perhaps not controlling - the flight pattern of your own life becomes a far more empowered endeavor as you step through gateways into the unconscious mind. “It’s not a quick fix,” my own teacher Shinzen Young is fond of saying. “But it’s a very, very deep fix.

With the summer solstice upon us last week, dawning at 6:07 a.m. EST, I didn’t want the auspicious time to pass without running Ceremony or making some type of gesture to The Powers That Be. Fortuitously, a great group came together to open the season with a transformative lil' weekend made up of Steph and Lana, Olivia and Ericka, the venerable rock man and wood guide J. Scott Campbell, and Nancy O’Donoghue, a long-time Red Road practitioner and Sundancer, as well as a great singer. Scott slings hot stones with the best of them, and as I like to joke any rock man not a little jammed up  breaking them in correctional facility works for me. I hope he keeps coming around with his gifts. Speaking of, Tanya Walker joined us from the local wellness center to lead a pair of gentle, centering yoga classes. Olivia and Ericka came from East Lansing, and found The Higher Haven online, a new, encouraging development. “I just searched for retreats in Michigan and found your place and all the reviews were so positive, we wanted to come.” If you take a closer look at that photo of us in the kitchen at the Wopila celebration post Ceremony, Ericka is to the far right, laughing and beaming. She was nervous about sweating, too, as many first-timers are, but clearly got the taste of purification, benefiting from Ceremony. Olivia also looks lit up. In fact, everyone lights up after visiting this place, and I’m happy just being the extension cord that makes the connection. 

I could tell more stories about how they all found the house enchanting, the garden delightful, the woods otherworldly, but then there’d be boring talk of how these reactions served to again dispel all my self-doubts, and self-doubt at this point is just so unnecessary.  I like you have had enough of the same rutted ways of being, and quite frankly am aching to tell a new story, beginning again with how my nature was again markedly changed by Saturday night’s Ceremony. What happened the very first time happens time and again. “At the start, every retreat changes you,” to again quote my teacher Shinzen. “Then every sit changes you. And eventually every moment changes you.” Reaping a growing harvest from seeds planted years ago, I’m elated that I stayed the course doing an awful  lot of things I really didn’t want to do over the last seven years in order to set up an entrepreneurial endeavor that would support me doing what I love and long to do. “If you were to study the Inipi, it would take you your lifetime”, to quote Chief Philip A. Crazybull, and now an incredible clearing is opening up to do just that, mostly in service to others but happy I'm also along for the ride. It’s a wonderful gig overseeing individuals who come together searching for the deeper recesses of their own spirituality. When people connect with others on that level, the experience can be extremely uplifting. Find out for yourself by joining us for the next One Day Overnight at Noon on Saturday July 21st, as we circle up to support one another in the work of finding a better way.