Tag: higher plane

To Infinity and Beyond

I found the picture from climbing Chichen Itza…and the view looking back down. It was exhilarating and scary at the same time, but the story didn’t end there. When we got to the top and just after I took this picture, Steve told me that I had to go down and get a helicopter to come up and pick him up, at first I laughed, but then realized he was dead serious. His face was completely white, and I suddenly knew he was not only afraid of heights, but also agoraphobic as well. I told him I wouldn’t leave without him, so either we died up there or we took our time getting back down together. It took me over an hour to talk him down backwards, which is quite a feat for someone who is 6 ft 4, and a size 14 shoe. I went down backwards first, right behind him, he knew if he fell or slipped I would go tumbling downward, and it kept him thinking with a level head, to move one small step at a time, until we reached solid ground.

The reason I brought up this story is not to disparage anyone because of their fears, I’ve talked about my own plenty, but more as a reminder that we all have them, regardless of how you look to the rest of the world, and most often they remain hidden. In the moment, though, when we act in a way that disregards, or is a denial that we have them, the end result is that the fear can and often does win. In my small and insignificant world, after the shooting by ICE in Minneapolis, where I spent much of my life, I too was paralyzed with the kind of fear that left me wondering if the darkness had finally won, that this journey of mine was nothing more than a fools errand, and that the little bit of light I brought to the game was nothing compared to the black whole of chaos that is beginning to swallow this country. The lies from those in power, come so frequently and blatantly that, from a leadership position, I began to wonder if it is just impossible to keep this ship afloat. And yet, I know, that throwing the lying, liars that lie overboard is not an option. Why? because according to everything I know about living on a higher plane, the foundational axiom is this: we are all connected. So every movement I make affects the whole, regardless of how small…even if it is just a whisper. Every choice made in fear, weakens and as in the case of Renee Macklin Good, destroys connections that are meant to move and evolve us forward.

It is that very concept, a reminder that we are all connected, that gave me the strength to continue on this journey, fools errand or not, and a very specific connection that talked me away from my fear, and that’s all I’ll say about that. All I know, in my lifetime, I have had plenty of opportunities to help people face their fears and move beyond them, and it is my prayer today that all those lights, blueprints or whatever you want to call them I feel connected to have someone, right now, who can do the same for them. We, those who choose love over fear, need each other right now. And while I love the amazing solidarity of people protesting the violence, I do caution that while doing so, we take the time necessary to face and acknowledge the fears we have right now, and enlist those we love to help overcome them. Fighting for justice and change is important, but reaching out and loving each other is just as important, because that love will define what the fight looks like.

And now the title I used for today’s post, yep, another appropriation…I think quoting Buzz Lightyear is perfect. He may have suffered an identity crisis after learning that he is just a toy, and not the hero that saves the universe, but when he finds his true purpose of being a loyal friend, and being loved and cherished for who and what he is, perhaps he really does…save the universe, I mean. And Buzz also reminds me that it only takes the faith of a mustard seed to move a mountain…

Higher Ground…and so We Begin

Van Cliburn – pianist 1960

I’ve spent the last few days in deep study and reflection in preparation for the idea of living and walking on higher ground. It afforded me an opportunity to look back in hindsight and in doing so I realized how I have spent my lifetime trying to incorporate this very theme into my life and work. It was then, that the directives of this year’s theme became even more exciting, because of how it opened up my mind and spirit in the past. I am cautioned, however, because when I look back objectively, the implementation of this idea throughout my life in specific moments wasn’t altogether very effective. The mechanisms, the events, curriculums, and programs that I created independently never achieved the goals I had anticipated and I was sometimes even punished for them, often leaving me feeling ineffectual. And yet, when I strung them all together over my lifetime…well what I saw wasn’t ineffectual but something else entirely. I had thought, given this direction, that I was to start the year by extracting what I learned from the failures of these accumulated experiences of my past. Failure, as much as accomplishment is often a great gage for me to improve, change or enhance my understanding of how I need to move forward. After last night, however, that is no longer the case. In addition to a powerful dream, another older dream was brought to my mind. To begin, here the dream I had years ago about Van Cliburn’s Hands. https://maryfrancesflood.com/2010/01/28/van-cliburns-hands/

Perhaps it was my attempt to describe my new bed using one of my favorite pianists, or my definite need for a massage, but I have had a recurring dream with Van Cliburn’s hands in it.  Usually it is just the hands, moving beautifully, bringing forth music.  Only the music doesn’t come from a piano, but from me.  My face turned red just writing that phrase, not because of some untoward sexual reference, but because of the intimacy of the action…of being played and the resulting progeny, a tune so beautiful and melodic that it brought a tear to my eye.  I couldn’t remember the melody when I woke up, except the tune was familiar and once I started to sing it, I flew upward into the clouds where a group of ancient looking kings and queens danced in a circle while holding hands.  I wanted them to hear the song, that I could sing it better than anyone else.  I woke before I heard an answer.  For the life of me I couldn’t remember anything else about the song, except those amazing hands and that I had heard the tune before.  Perhaps a connection to a past event or theme?  Who knows, but it was an amazing dream….

It seems personal sharing wasn’t limited to last year, however given this post was written 16 years ago, and it was brought to my attention in another dream I had last night, I think it is very pertinent. I dreamed I was a monkey in a crowd of dancing monkey’s (no, this is not a joke…it is a very serious metaphor connected to the concept of the “100th monkey”…look it up). I saw a director/person in charge leading us to a train of sorts, and I wanted to show him a new dance that had suddenly come to me. I bowed and caught his attention and started to dance to a tune in my mind. At first he really didn’t notice, until all the other monkey’s started dancing to it as well. In my mind, my Spirit guide whispered, “Van Cliburn’s hands” It was then that I woke up and realized that that melody I dreamed of so many years ago is still alive and well inside my soul and this year, hopefully, I can better share this melody and create a choreography, of sorts, that is the result of all the past “movements” I have worked toward, one that others can also dance to, in hopes of creating an expanded way to live out our beautiful blueprints, and love each other more easily and fully. Not to great of a goal, right? Of course I never shirk from throwing it all out there, and I am, after all this time, completely aware that the results of my prayers and year’s journey will be beyond anything I have or can possibly fathom. I also feel the time requires it. This planet, the Body of Humanity and the direction that the God of Love desires for us to shed our light into the darkness also requires all of us all to participate, or it will never come to fruition. For this is what the God of Love requires of us:

So whoever is in Christ is a new creation: the old things have passed away; behold, new things have come. And all this is from God, who has reconciled us to himself through Christ and given us the ministry of reconciliation, namely, God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting their trespasses against them and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. So we are ambassadors for Christ, as if God were appealing through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.

2 Corinthians 5:17-20.


I urge you therefore, brothers and sisters, by the mercies of God, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God, your spiritual worship. Do not conform yourselves to this age but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and pleasing and perfect. For by the grace given to me I tell everyone among you not to think of themselves more highly than one ought to think, but to think soberly, each according to the measure of faith that God has apportioned. For as in one body we have many parts, and all the parts do not have the same function, so we, though many, are one body in Christ and individually parts of one another.

Romans 12:1-5.

So I begin, taking what I learned from the past, and walking forward, with the commitment to continue to work on the emotional stability that I learned last year is necessary for wielding love, and with full faith in the God of love and all the beautiful trajectories in my life to share the melody of my soul in all its beauty and uniqueness in the hope that will help us walk and live together on a higher plane. God is my orchestra and you are Van Cliburn’s hands.

A Higher Plane…a Primer

The above photos are me in my favorite place, one of my hardest, triumphant, and at the same time, most poorly planned climbs of my life. How I made it is still a mystery, because I left my camera with my friend down on the beach. Anyway, I included it because it is with the same attitude that I begin this next chapter, I want to go to a greater height, and I will get there by just leaping ahead with the faith that I, regardless of my frailties and limits, will get there because I believe whole heartedly that it where the God of love wants me to go. In my first meditation on this new theme, my stomach was in knots, and I wrestled with the whole rational/spiritual dimensions of my nature: how can I present living on a higher plane in such a way that it makes perfect sense and is not just the figment of the imagination of an inventive mind? So, like that climb above, I just jumped out into the abyss that is my spirit and mind and embraced whatever came to me. At this point, I was and am chastised and humbled by ever worrying in the first place…this is going to be an adventure.

To begin with, the first things that came to mind when I focused on living on a higher plane, was all the work I had done with scientist, paleontologist, philosopher and mystic Teilhard de Chardin. He spent his lifetime studying the evolution of the planet/humanity and his conclusions are one of the cornerstones of my development. His teaching about the “phenomenon of man” (in quotes here, because in further usage I will only use gender affirming pronouns), that there is a correlation between the physical and psychical evolution of our species, is the link I’ve found between the disciplines of science and religion, that together work to form a more holistic view of our evolution. It is also the context, by which, the teachings of Christ and most other religions I’ve studied make the most sense. I will, of course, go into more detail in posts to come.

Secondly, because our universe is more than just a physical one (the without), its genesis has to also be understood in terms of the development of consciousness (the within). The evolution of both the inner and outer world share these same qualities: Plurality, Unity, and Energy. Once applied, from the teachings of Teilhard, there is a great shift in how neither the “without” of evolution and the “within” of evolution could be understood independently from one another. Ultimately, Teilhard believed that there is a specific direction to our evolution, that it is not a random set of events left to a multitude of circumstances, and that God is the source of that direction. He painstaking laid exactly how, and his work was censured by the Church, and he was exiled from France and China where he spent most of his life developing his theories.

While Teilhard’s theories were instrumental in my understanding of evolution on multiple levels, it was the science of quantum physics that expanded my understanding of Teilhard’s world (he died in the 50’s). The role of the observer, the impact of “the body” of thought, and the direction complex and nonlinear beings like humans will have on the collective unconscious, or “higher plane” as I am calling it, demands as much attention if we, cumulatively want to participate in the direction God wants us to go. Here is where it gets tricky…while God may have had the greater hand in directing our evolution up to this point, because of our free will, and powerful role in moving whether it be forward or backward, humanity, more than ever has within its power to embrace and live on this higher plane…or not, and the latter is what I find most frightening.

And yet, I am entering this year with my faith strengthened, solidified and purified by all I learned in the last year, and with the knowledge that I am not alone, I am joined by many open and brilliant blueprints out there who are finding their own way to shine their light, which to me, is synonymous with living on a higher plane. Of course, like anything, it doesn’t mean moving forward will be easy…I’ve already felt the struggle already. Wielding love is hard work and admittedly work that is relatively new to me…but true to my core, I will weather through it. The picture below is evidence physically what I am going through spiritually. I had just survived a huge storm on Lake Superior, that was terrifying and I understood, afterwards, how a huge ship like the Edmond Fitzgerald was sunk during a storm on that very same lake. I had thrown up my blueberry pancakes over the edge of said ship all the while thinking I was a goner and have never felt so fragile and aware of the power of the wind and nature in my life. To this day, the wind still freaks me out…whether it is physical or spiritual. But like the face in that picture, I am resolved to keep moving forward to better weather and greater heights.