An important message from Jan Finley
Came across this picture on FB today. The imagery is very powerful for me and evokes The Secret Garden, one of my most favorites books and musicals. The image of the door and a key has a huge place of honor in my awakening, so much so that I wore a gold key for years before it was fashionable. I eventually gave the key to my daughter who performed in a lead role in the ballet of The Secret Garden, based on the Broadway show. A few years later, she tragically lost it, along with the rest of her jewelry, in a robbery.
I was devastated at the key’s loss but have come to see that the physical embodiment of the symbol had to be lost so that I would remember that that key was always within me, as was the door. Many, many times in my life, I had faced a locked door and had to choose to unlock it. As I stood before these doors, I have run the gamut of response from “I can’t” to “I won’t” to “I don’t deserve this”.
Sometimes I have been afraid to unlock the door. Sometimes I have unlocked the door and been unable (unwilling?) to enter. Sometimes I have embraced the opening. What I have discovered is that the Garden is always waiting. It is always willing. It is always home. The love, the Light, the welcome I have discovered inside the garden always awaits me, and yet each time I come to the door, it is a new permutation. I must face the door as if for the first time all over again.
In the midst of the absolute chaos and shadow running rampant in our physical world, I came to the door again today. As I said, it appeared on Facebook, that mirror disguised as “social media”, the implication being that it involves “others”. I spent the afternoon with a dear friend having lunch and watching “Moana”, a wonderful Disney movie that repeatedly asks the question “Who are you?”
We had repeated interruptions as the dogs barked and asked to go out, the phones rang, and people came to the door. Still and agin, we returned to the movie. What I began to notice is that the interruptions came when Spirit revealed itself within the story. I was being asked to pay attention, which was not easy as I was hostess and pet owner, dealing with my own little bit of chaos.
It wasn’t until after my friend left that I was able to really process what occurred and I began to see the part my doors played in this afternoon. I welcomed friends inside, I let my dogs out to use the bathroom, I welcomed them back into the house. It was an entirely different perspective from standing outside the door trying to to decide whether or not to open the door.
I came to see that I was already inside; that standing outside was no longer an option for me, and I began to apply that to the huge transmutation happening in our world. The key has been used, the door is open, and we are inside. The Garden is ours. The new world is here.
This does not mean that all work ends here. On the contrary this is where the real work begins. Clean up must begin. Any gardener knows that much work goes into preparing the Garden and restoring its Light. The job is often daunting and feels overwhelming, but it is critically necessary.
And now I return to the question “Who am I?” I am a Guardian of the Garden, in my own little corner of the world. And I am also a Guardian in tandem and connection with all of you as we welcome the New/Old World into physical existence.
This is where we are. We have arrived in the Garden but we must clear out the deadwood, weeds and brush. We must fertilize and nurture the tender growth. We must trust that our hard work and faith will bear abundant fruit. Our Garden requires our absolute commitment and vigilance.
It is hard to keep faith and hold the Light when each day brings dark news and our very world feels threatened. And yet, this is the time we must hold most strongly to all that we know is true.
We are not outside the door any longer. The new world is here and it is our responsibility to clear away any Shadow and debris from the past that holds us back. We are the Guardians. We are the Garden. Let the blooming begin.