Day Nineteen - Circles of Trust
White space ... that’s what this image reminds me of. And we need more of it in our lives. Waiting. Listening.
Space and time to still. To listen to our own souls speak. The essence of who we are and the excess of who we are needs a meeting place so truth can form here.
This boldness journey continues to bring me to my knees in gratitude. If not on my knees, it is making me pause and be so aware that this is all from heaven, to invade our earth. This in itself is true legacy.
So my day involved a drive downtown to get my daughters drivers license! What??? I am not old enough. It was full circle to where we had to go as immigrants when we first landed in this country. Something felt so surreal that it’s been nearly five years.
It was a strange feeling, reflecting on everything that has taken place since we showed up to that place not knowing a single person here in Quebec except for maybe 5 people who had found us on FB.
Then I attend to a day of work, emails, team, end of year budgets, 2020 planning and more. I pinch myself we get to do this when just four years ago this church did not even exist.
Then as a mum of teenagers I was navigating today, growing up and threshold conversations about trust, independence, responsibility, therapy, relationship. Big big life conversations. I pinch myself that I get to do this, and ask Jesus to love my children perfectly, because I do it so imperfectly!
I come home to Christmas Tree decorating. And young kids having playground fights. So then we discuss forgiveness and boundaries and kindness. I pinch myself that I get to do this. And make them call their friends to make-up! Because you can with a nine year old :)
Then I launch an anthem to this journey we are on (more on that tomorrow!). And with great grace, anticipation and honour, I welcome two more individual clients onto this journey with me to explore some one-to-one coaching as they cross the threshold of a new decade. I pinch myself that I get to do this.
And tonight it all culminated in an open fire side online group with those girls who have jumped onto the private FB group. And all that I had felt to explore was something called a Circle of Trust.
Holy listening—to “listen” another’s soul into life, into a condition of disclosure and discovery, may be almost the greatest service that any human being ever performs for another.
And honestly it was one of the most breathtaking small groups I have ever experienced. We listened and asked spirit-led questions of one another. We heard of legacy being contended for. Bold steps to stand strong in voice even when people don’t understand. We heard of grief, loss, decades of pain. We heard of inheritance. We heard of the unknown feeling wide open and scary. We heard of things never spoke out loud before.
And those five women have never connected before in their life as a group. It’s felt like the five of us where those Daughters of Z! Those sisters, so unique, but so connected by their pursuit of legacy.
How does a circle of trust work?
A circle of trust has no agenda except to help people listen to their own souls and discern their own truths…Its singular purpose is to support the inner journey of each person in the group, to make each soul feel safe enough to show up and speak its truth, to help each person listen to his or her own inner teacher.
In our society we make spaces for our intellect, our emotions, our will and our ego to show up, but we know very little about creating spaces that invite the soul to make itself known…
Spaces designed to welcome the soul and support the inner journey are rare. But the principles and practices that shape such spaces are neither new nor untested. Some are embedded in monastic tradition…Some emerged over 400 years of Quaker faith and practice. Some are embedded in the processes of spiritual formation that can be found at the heart of most of the world’s great wisdom traditions.
Like a wild animal,, the soul is tough, resilient, resourceful, savvy and self-sufficient: it knows how to survive in hard places…Yet despite its toughness, the soul is also shy…A circle of trust is a group of people who know how to sit quietly “in the woods” with each other and wait for the shy soul to show up. The relationships in such a group are not pushy but patient; they are not confrontational but compassionate; they are filled not with expectations and demands but with abiding faith in the reality of the inner teacher and in each person’s capacity to learn from it.
The soul will show up only if we approach each other with no other motive than the desire to welcome it. When we “protect and border and salute” each other’s solitude, we break our manipulative habits and make it safe for the soul to emerge.
In a circle of trust we are governed by a simple rule: “No fixing, no saving, no advising, no setting each other straight.”
And it was all that and more. And on this bold breakthrough journey I am learning what I was born for. Facilitating these moments are part of my ‘why’.
So so I will host another Tuesday 6am Montreal time. (that’s soon and I need to get to bed!) And then so will some of my friends!
The link online will be in the FB group. You need to jump on there to get it.
https://www.facebook.com/groups/735266666943429/?ref=share
Click the ‘it’ above or try the link above.
I would love to engage you like this. Maybe you showing up online is your bold step?