Cory

 The light of my life/our life turns 40 today. This man was not supposed to live through his first night. His APGAR score was 2/4. Babies with an APGAR score of 2/4 rarely survive. And yet here he is 40 years later. He is my miracle baby. The one that made it through. He is also my rainbow baby, born 3 years after I miscarried at 5 months. Born in the land of rainbows in Honolulu, Hawaii, he broke my heart wide open with his birth and he has continued to take my breath away with his presence. He is our Rainbow Warrior.

He has faced more challenges in his 40 years than most of us face in a lifetime. And he has done it with grace, humor and passion. From his very first breath life has been a challenge for him and yet he has never played the role of victim. I have never heard him say why me? At ten years of age with a smile and a wave, he wheeled himself into the operating room and hopped up on the operating table. That’s who he is at his core. Fearless. That is not to say he is without fear. Yet time after time especially as a child he faced those fears over and over again with dignity beyond his years. He is wise. He is kind. He can be stubborn. I am proud of the man he has become. He has not let Life wear him down.

Raymond and I are planners. We never planned that Cory would still be with us 40 years later. Every surgery, every infection, every fever we were sure he was headed Home. He knew long before we did that not only was he surviving, he was thriving! Cory has been the impetus for growth in our family. It is his arrival that put me squarely on the spiritual path that most likely saved my life and for sure gave my life meaning and purpose. He continues to challenge me in the best way to be all I came here to be. He continues to rise to the occasion and in doing so teaches me to do the same.

Happy Birthday, Buddha.

Thank you for this day

May I greet it with the

Eyes, ears, mouth and heart of a child

May I experience the wonder

Of Being

In this magnificent

Physical body

May I experience the world

May I experience the people

And circumstances of the world

Through the eyes of my innocence

I dig deep to find

That place

That place of safety and trust

I dig deep to remember

The innocence

That was once mine

Or perhaps it just floats

To the surface

As I allow myself

To wonder and wander

I AM Holy

I AM Blessed

I AM made in the image

Of the Divine

That means that

I AM perfect

Just as I AM

And that means

That YOU are made in the image

Of the Divine

And YOU are perfect

Just as you are

Right here

Right now

In this moment

Of Holy Bliss

In this moment

Of remembrance

Stay here for a moment

Before you immerse yourself

In the activities of daily living

Stay here and savor

The beauty of this moment

This breath

This smell

This experience

Throughout the day

Go back to this moment

Of holiness before the

Sun is up

While the world sleeps

Revel in the quiet

Bathe in the peace

Of this Holy moment of now

Use this moment of now

To inform

How you move

Through your day

Use this moment of now

To inform how you touch

To inform how you speak

To those you encounter

On your journey on

This blessed day

In this moment

Of blissful recognition

Of the

One True Source

Namaste

The Divine in me

Sees and honors

The Divine in you

May we meet

In this moment

Of remembrance

Today and everyday

And so it is.

I AM

I AM loved

I AM

 

I AM bathed in Love. I AM

I am based in Love. I AM

 

I AM That Which Is.

I AM

I AM She/He/They

That comes to you in the Silence.

I AM

I AM She/He/They

That comes to you amidst the chaos/noise

I AM

 

I AM She/He/They

Inside you

I AM

 

I AM She/He/They

All around you

I AM

 

I AM in every nook and cranny

I AM

I AM everything and no(thing)

I AM

 

As a child

You were told

God is everywhere

Your Catholic catechism asked

Where is God?

God is everywhere

God is in ALL things

I AM

 

I AM God

I AM The Goddess

I AM The Light

I AM The Dark

I AM The Grey

I AM The In-between

I AM

I AM form

I AM formless

I AM

 

There is no place

In which I AM not

I AM here

I AM there

I AM

I AM here and there

All at once

I AM

 

I AM

I AM

I AM

I AM

 

Raven Maestas-Valencia 💛🦋

8/29/2021

 

About the art: I had not created any art in a very long time. I went to California to visit my dear friend and Soulsister, Rosemary Valdez Fletcher. She was determined that she was going to get me creating again. She used simple childlike tools to entice me such as Crayola‘s magic clay and poster paints. And this Angel Goddess as born. She now resides with another dear friend and Soulsister, Valerie Kwietniak.

 

 

I AM HERE

Rock Goddess

           I AM HERE 

Good morning Team.

Divine Mother

Divine Father

Divine Brother

Divine Sister

all of you be with me today as I go forth in my day.

May I be a beacon of love and light and compassion.

May I walk gently on the earth.

Thank you for being present for me always.

Thank you for loving me, guiding me, helping me, being aware of me, acknowledging me, nourishing me, supporting me, listening to me.

 

I am here.

It is a new day.

An opportunity to start fresh.

I am here ready, willing and able to be.

To be what is needed

What is required in each moment.

 

I am here to be of service

to the Divine call

that is as a clarion

to my soul, to my human.

 

I am here, Dear Goddess, Mother of all Creation,

I am here to be a vessel

for thy bidding.

 

I am here. I am here

I am here filled with

gratitude, love, and

even remorse for not

always being aware

of the need to be here.

 

I am here

on this planet, Earth

I am here. Be here now.

 

I am here

responding to the call

of the Mother.

I am here tending to her children.

I am here. I am here. I am here.

 

I am love incarnate.

I am the eyes, ears, mouth, voice, heart

of Creation, The Creator,

The Mother, the Father,

The Universal Cosmos of Creation.

I am that which is.

 

I choose to look at this moment

and be grateful for that.

I am here in my healing room.

The silence is deafening.

The aloneness sublime.

The opportunity to be alone

in my own being

with my Creator,

a gift not to be taken for granted.

 

I am here. I am here.

And in this moment

I rejoice in this moment of here.

 

For this moment

I can lay aside the pain, the fear,

the anxiety of living with an incurable disease.

 

For this moment

I can bear witness

to the suffering of those around me.

 

For this moment

I can rejoice in the silence.

I can rejoice in the fact

that my body is mostly pain-free.

 

In this moment

I am doing more than just enduring.

In this moment

I am rejoicing in living.

 

I am rejoicing that

I AM THE BODY.

I AM THE BODY

MY SOUL USES TO EXPRESS ITSELF.

I AM THE BODY

THAT EXPRESSES LOVE

WITH A HUG,

WITH TOUCH,

WITH A KIND WORD.

 

I AM THE BODY

THAT EXPRESSES LOVE

BY LISTENING

TO THE PAIN OF OTHERS.

 

I AM THE BODY

MY SOUL USES

TO ACT IN KIND

AND BENEVOLENT WAYS.

 

I AM THE BODY

MY SOUL USES

TO POINT OUT

ABUSE, INJUSTICE.

 

I AM THE BODY

AND TODAY

I AM GRATEFUL

for that and for this body

that carries my pain,

Carries the pain of those I love,

carries the pain of the masses

But also carries

the love that heals that pain.

 

I am the heartbreak

I am the love that soothes

I am the abuser

I am the abused

I am the antidote to both

I am the love that heals

I am the love that nourishes

I am the love that supports

I am the love that is aware

I am the love that is all encompassing

I am the love.

I am here

About the Art:  I created this Rock Goddess when we were redoing our son, Cory's, backyard.  We created a rock garden that included a medicine wheel and yin yang symbol as well as other spiritual symbols. It was hard work but a fun family project. Her head is made from a gourd and unfortunately the New Mexico sun has not been kind to her. She is however, still standing eight years later. Kind of like me, a little bruised and battered but still here.