Drop to your knees

Drop to your knees. Sink deep into prayer.

Silent whispers to something, or to someone, which is almighty. Powerful. Merciful.

In times of turmoil, exasperation and angst.

And in times of fervent joy, abundance and complete and utter gratitude.

The mystery that envelopes our lives and this very Unknown has us question the purpose; the rhyme and the reason to it all from time to time.

But then something happens – omens, signs and synchronicity happen - leading us closer to our desire and dream. Often masked and not always recognisable to the closed heart, but there nonetheless when we are ready to see, and I mean really See.

I’m talking about Alchemy. The idea of being connected and supported by the profound powers, which we often call Religion or Spirituality.

Recent travels to France and Italy reignited my intrigue in the Divine, the Universe, God – whatever label you prefer.

Churches and shrines, basilicas and venerable monuments. Historic paintings and statues of saints and priests, and a cross standing tall at the top of an insurmountable peak, towering over coastal towns below.

Etched into rock, messages to spirits, and at the base of alters, women holding photos of loved ones as they prayed in silence.

Everywhere I looked, I saw expressions of faith.

Faith in the Unknown.

When in Morocco last year, I watched on as prayer calls were sung at sunset from rooftops and from the heart of mosques. As men kneeled with palms open and arms stretched out as they kissed the floor before them. Blessing after blessing released out into the world.

Then in Bali, I was touched by the sacred respect for the earth and the unbridled love for all creatures. Temples shrouded in offerings; the scent of incense simmering in the dead heat of the morning. Whole families saddling motorbikes in ceremonial dress, flowers in hair and rice beads on their foreheads.

Gods and goddesses peered from every corner, carved in stone, hanging from rearview mirrors in taxis. Their spirits epitomised in dance around a roaring fire. Chants and trances, holy water and the Om.

All memorabilia from a high place. A higher ground.

I see the practice of worship and devotion daily through yoga. Salutes to the new day, to the cycles, to the heavenly. Candles alit and music humming the ancient language of Indian ancestors. Bodies moving and lungs expanding all in the name of peace. There is honour and there is grace.

These incarnations of the Sacred exist everywhere. Maybe in different forms, but they exist.

Why?

Why do you think is it important to believe? To believe in something or someone? To feel supported, guided and led as we transverse the terrain that is our lives?

I look forward to hearing your point of view in the comment box below.

Namaste. Amen. Inshallah to everyone :)