This a.m., while listening to some deep-rooted words, I was taken back to childhood while listening and singing a favorite song:

Sings a New Song by Dan Schutte

Sing a new song unto the Lord; let your song be sung from mountains high. Sing a new song unto the Lord, singing alleluia.

Yahweh’s people dance for joy. O come before the Lord. And play for him on glad tambourines, and let your trumpet sound.

Sing a new song unto the Lord; let your song be sung from mountains high. Sing a new song unto the Lord, singing alleluia.

Rise, O children, from your sleep; your Savior now has come. He has turned your sorrow to joy, and filled your soul with song.

Sing a new song unto the Lord; let your song be sung from mountains high. Sing a new song unto the Lord, singing alleluia.

Glad my soul for I have seen the glory of the Lord. The trumpet sounds; the dead shall be raised. I know my Savior lives.

Sing a new song unto the Lord; let your song be sung from mountains high. Sing a new song unto the Lord, singing alleluia.

I had almost forgotten this tune until a good friend began speaking about change. Change not for the world but for self. It is through the self that we can change the world around us. He spoke of Saul, before he became Paul, and how he used to see things. Then one day on the road to Damascus, a bright light filled his being and he was given new sight. As he stepped into the light, he forever became known as Paul…a follower of Jesus.

I then began relating this story to a time I escorted a friend up to the Upper Peninsula. A magical place where mystery and awe collide. We arrived up North without an agenda and no idea why we had come. We did know that something was about to happen…but uncertainty was present.

During a talking circle, around a sacred fire, we all began unloading our burdens. Just like this mornings sermon as to bringing our sins to a mighty table where we are forgiven. We poured our sins into the fire and were given a new beginning, a birthing if you will. It was then I received a tap on the shoulder, “You ready?” Ready for what?!

We excused ourselves to another sacred place, to that of a long house, with a smaller structure inside. This inner structure, like that of an inner room, was only reachable upon our hands and knees. We must crawl into a womb of mother earth.

Once in the womb, the door is closed and a fire lit. Ancient grandfathers were invited in and medicine shared by all. As the medicine from the grandfathers emitted into the inner room, thunder began to sound. My eyes, which could see clearly before, burned from my sockets.

With eyes closed and no sight, I listen to songs of creation, words of thanksgiving, prayers of peace and love, and finally a charge to go forth into the world anew. Others had visions of what they had seen, but for me I was to unsee that which was once seen.

Exiting the womb, we were given a new start on life. All retired for the evening, but I was to remain…for reasons I was not aware of. It was 2 a.m. and the stars filled the skies. I could see Pleiades or Seven Sisters and could here a faint invite to come sit in the woods. So I walked into the woods and began to notice my eyesight became that of daytime. In the middle of the night I am able to see as if it were daytime! I ask how this is possible and hear voices who reassure me “That which you have seen before, is no longer. From this day forward you will be given new sight, with ability to see that which most cannot. The night shall become day, the unknown shall be made known unto thee. Your given name shall be that of the Owl…seer of the unseen.”

.So, as I sit there listening to a friend speak, I am transported back into time, reminded of what is to come in the future. In essence Be Here Now takes on a whole new meaning. With greater understanding of here and now, seeing past and future collide into present…I am given sight as to what might be or not be. For with each new step forward I am given a choice to step with care or push my way through.

Transported through a vessel of story, from old to new, I am given a glimpse into my own past and given sight of what is to come. Although I am still present in this moment, there is hope as to what may be. I am given a song to sing for all to hear, healing self and allowing others to be healed as well.

A bird doesn’t sing because it has an answer, it sings because it has a song.~Lou Holtz

Whatever our passions, whatever our dreams…may we follow it, singing the song of songs deep within our souls. We may not fully understand the path leading to such, but we assuredly live as authentic as possibly attainable…