#8 Joyful Transformation 2022

The Month for Joyful Transformation
October 8 – November 16, 2022

“When I found I had crossed that line, I looked at my hands to see if I was the same person. There was such a glory over everything; the sun came like gold through trees, and over the fields, and I felt like I was in Heaven.

– Harriet Tubman

Our practice for these forty days is to enjoy entertaining the possibility of transforming tumultuous floodtides of emotional energy to serene, life-enhancing elegance and beauty. As these images of China’s archetypal river, the Yellow River, demonstrate.

Harriet Tubman’s poignant words above describe how she felt when she emerged from her impossibly difficult Underground Railroad flight into freedom and found herself standing literally in a new world. Transformed. Free at last!

Our struggles, mostly to gain freedom from inner servitude to such troubles as fear, depression, prolonged suffering, are nowhere near as desperate as were the gallant Harriet Tubman’s need for outer AND inner freedom. Yet her magnificent courage and her wisdom ways can inspire us to do the work of transforming those difficulties of our lives into a glimpse of that golden “glory over everything” that she realizes when she steps into her hard-won true freedom.

Here are suggestions for inspiration, gleaned from some of her words.

Keep your faith strong.
Stay in constant touch with the Divine One in whose majesty and holiness you can trust. “Lord, I’m going to hold steady on to You, and You’ve got to see me through.”

Do what you can to help others gain freedom from suffering.
“The Lord who told me to take care of my people meant me to do it just as long as I live, and so I did what He told me.”

Find your North Star.
Hers was both literal and internal. “God’s time is always near. He set the North Star in the heavens. He gave me the strength in my limbs. He meant I should be free.”

Never ever give up.
“If you hear the dogs, keep going. If you see the torches in the woods, keep going. If there’s shouting after you, keep going. Don’t ever stop. Keep going. If you want a taste of freedom, keep going.”

Honor your dreams, and the importance of traveling in the night.
“Every great dream begins with a dreamer. Always remember, you have within you the strength, the patience, and the passion to reach for the stars, to change the world.”

May the practices of joy inherent in true freedom and the pursuit of true freedom for all people fill your month with glory.

Joy in the world.
And in me.
Praise. Praise. Praise