By Janet Starr
I was looking out the window of my home one summer morning, wondering why I always reacted a certain way to a particular situation. Suddenly I saw a very large woodpecker fly to the tree in my backyard. He began to loudly peck at a branch and was tearing apart the limb.
Very quickly, I got the message: I needed to stop allowing my mind to peck on this situation. It was hindering my spiritual growth.
Soon I noticed a blue flash in front of me. I blinked in amazement. Missouri’s state bird is the eastern bluebird. For me, seeing a bluebird is a very rare occurrence. I used to see them on the farm where I grew up, because they like open fields. Now a bluebird had arrived here, in my small backyard with its little fountain. As with the woodpecker a moment ago, I knew the little bluebird was also delivering a spiritual message.
What was the waking dream?
When I put my attention on what seeing the bluebird could mean, another bluebird flew into the yard. Then another. Now there were three of them. I felt joy and love building inside of me. I had the playfulness to say, “Well, if one more comes, then I know this is a gift of the Light and Sound, the ECK.” More arrived, until there were six bluebirds drinking and playing in the fountain. I felt grateful to receive this gift.
And the waking dream? The bluebirds were there to remind me to sing HU when this particular situation arose again, and to let my long-held attitude and concerns fly away. For me, singing HU as a love song to God opens my heart so that I can soar above the things that hold me back spiritually. The bluebirds’ beauty showed me how beautiful and truly loved I am as Soul.
The gift of the bluebirds went straight to my heart. It will remain there forever.
* * *
We begin dream study in ECK with the waking dream. In other words, we look at the ways Divine Spirit is trying to give us hints in everyday life to make things work out better for us.
—Sri Harold Klemp,
How the Inner Master Works