Portals

My partner Phoenix, a Reiki Master, attended to a person dying in Albany Memorial Hospital recently to ease her transition. The next morning she awoke to a really bad headache.  

I cradled her head in my hands and as I brought healing to the situation I asked her if she had shielded herself as the portal of death opened.  She said no.  The call was so sudden and the time frame was so narrow she just began the work there was to do.  

That experience got me to thinking about portals as I sat meditating on a message in meeting.  There are so many portals we pass through in life between the portal of birth into life and the portal of death as we make our final exit. I'd considered how many times I'd stood on the threshold of change wondering whether I'd pass through that gate into a new experience or just stay put. 

I began to consider how many times I'd knocked on doors wanting to get through and found those doors locked or just inoperable. Times I found myself waiting in a holding pattern for something to shift like the tumblers in a lock.  Sometimes that door would swing open as soon as I approached the threshold and sometimes it would take years to pass through that opening. 

We Quakers are fond of saying: "proceed as the way opens" but we must also be prepared for "holdings"  and "closings."  That in-between waiting period when it seems like nothing is happening can be massively frustrating, but what if that time is preparation?  What if that time is getting ready for the next opening? 

As Phoenix's headache subsided after energy healing to restore balance, I realized that all of us are on the precipice of some threshold so it is important to be gentle.  I had a window into Phoenix's experience, but I won't have that luxury with most people.

The queries I am contemplating today are: 

1. What portal am I on the threshold of passing through now? 
2. Do I want to pass through that portal?  If not, what is stopping me? 
3. What doors open freely for me? Which ones are stuck? 
4. What preparation am I engaged in RIGHT NOW waiting for that next portal?   

Joseph Olejak