"It's all God in Drag!" I first heard this phrase from Ram Dass while attending one of his spiritual retreats. All of us laughed deeply when he delivered the phrase with his perfect spirtual/comic timing. I laughed so hard I almost cried while the ripples of my laughter mixed with the chills of feeling like I was hearing a profound truth.
Over the years this phrase has often helped me to surrender into the Divine Flow of life by reminding me that whatever is happening is perfect as it is and I just need to be fully present to it.
So many times in my life I have been re-minded of this truth. So many times I have had experiences that seemed bad, horrible and/or traumatic, only to find out over time that they were part of a greater arc of experience that almost always brought about growth and blessing.
At that same spiritual retreat Ram Dass expanded on this idea of "It's all God in drag" by telling the following story:
There once was a rancher who had a beautiful stallion. He loved this stallion and pampered it with love and attention. One day there was a great storm and the stallion broke free and ran off into the mountains. The rancher and his family all sat around the hearth and bemoaned their bad fortune. The old grandfather merely sat in the corner and whispered a soft and whimsical: "ah-so."
Three days later, after the storm had passed, the stallion returned. As he galloped into the coral, three wild horses followed him. The rancher and his family were overjoyed at their good fortune. Of course, Grandpa just smiled and said "ah-so."
The ranchers' eldest son asked if he could learn to break in one of the wild horses. His father began to teach his son, when all of a sudden the wild horse threw the son across the coral. The son broke his hip and laid in bed in dire pain. The family huddled around, grumbling about the great misfortune. Grandpa gently held the boy's hand and whispered once again…"ah-so."
The next day a great army came to the village and took all able-bodied young men. The ranchers' son was spared. All eyes looked to the grandfather, who just smiled wisely and said…"ah-so."
Ah-so...Oh-Gee...It's all God in Drag!
Over the years this phrase has often helped me to surrender into the Divine Flow of life by reminding me that whatever is happening is perfect as it is and I just need to be fully present to it.
So many times in my life I have been re-minded of this truth. So many times I have had experiences that seemed bad, horrible and/or traumatic, only to find out over time that they were part of a greater arc of experience that almost always brought about growth and blessing.
At that same spiritual retreat Ram Dass expanded on this idea of "It's all God in drag" by telling the following story:
There once was a rancher who had a beautiful stallion. He loved this stallion and pampered it with love and attention. One day there was a great storm and the stallion broke free and ran off into the mountains. The rancher and his family all sat around the hearth and bemoaned their bad fortune. The old grandfather merely sat in the corner and whispered a soft and whimsical: "ah-so."
Three days later, after the storm had passed, the stallion returned. As he galloped into the coral, three wild horses followed him. The rancher and his family were overjoyed at their good fortune. Of course, Grandpa just smiled and said "ah-so."
The ranchers' eldest son asked if he could learn to break in one of the wild horses. His father began to teach his son, when all of a sudden the wild horse threw the son across the coral. The son broke his hip and laid in bed in dire pain. The family huddled around, grumbling about the great misfortune. Grandpa gently held the boy's hand and whispered once again…"ah-so."
The next day a great army came to the village and took all able-bodied young men. The ranchers' son was spared. All eyes looked to the grandfather, who just smiled wisely and said…"ah-so."
Ah-so...Oh-Gee...It's all God in Drag!
2 comments:
I wanted to write about the story. I understand the grandfather. I think any of us who have lived a little while know the wisdom of the story. The irony is, how do we know when to stop working to manipulate our world...and perhaps manipulate is not the right word. I can accept the good and the bad, but the challenge comes in knowing what to do next. You mention in your trip to Europe that you were in the "Divine Flow" or not and that your attempts to plan only thwarted your efforts to stay in that Divine Flow. I am accepting of what happens in my life, but I don't also have a responsibility to chart my course?
I would be interested in your thoughts.
Thank you for your heartfelt comment. For me, this story is about the realization that there is a Force at work in life that knows more than me, and that at each moment I have the choice to try to chart my own course or surrender to the Divine Flow. Personally, I have found that my life is more joyous and wondrous when I let go of my desire to chart my own course and allow the Divine to guide my way. Reaching this point of being in the Divine Flow has been my life goal for many years now; in fact I just finished nine years of intense doctoral research* on this experience and have found several universal approaches to achieving this goal.
*If you are interested, you can find more information on my research at my research website:
The Divine Guidance Project.
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