We embark on the tenth day of a 40 Day Practice, based on the energy of the Labyrinth (releasing – contemplation – receiving). If you have a local labyrinth, I invite you to walk the labyrinth with today’s theme as your focus. If you don’t have a local labyrinth, you can create your own, take a walk somewhere peaceful, or even sit in contemplation in your own home. I will be scheduling various public labyrinth appearances, and you are welcome to join me when and where you can, if you feel moved to do so.

The theme for today is The Miracle of Life. If you were a betting person, you would never bet on life happening. Living organisms are an anomaly, a freak happenstance.

Questions that might help you see what you can release: Have you ever felt like you don’t belong, that you might have been a mistake, that your life doesn’t mean anything? If you were to accept that your life is a miracle, how would that affect your actions? What fears does that bring up? What are the sticking points of this idea for you? What are the anchors and attachments that prevent you from acting like your existence might be due to a one in a million convergence of variables? What would you have to give up to allow for this to be truth?

Suggestions for Contemplation: In your mind’s eye, reach deep into the earth and connect with the prehistoric energy. Allow yourself to be conscious of the primordial ooze, as it were. Feel the energy of raw minerals deep within the planet. Bring your focus closer to the surface, and connect with the root systems of the trees and the grasses. Feel the energy, the lifeblood that travels through those roots, feeding the plants they are connected to. Feel that energy traveling up into the parts of the plants we see on a regular basis. See if you can envision the conversions that happen within a single plant, turning sunlight into fuel, and carbon dioxide into oxygen. If you have ever watched a baby bird hatch from its shell, or a worm become a butterfly, allow that scene to play out in your mind; marvel at the strength and perseverance, the miracle of it all. Turn your attention to all of the processes that go on in your body, every moment of every day, without you ever having to think about them. Breathing, heart beating, and information traveling along nerves, influencing muscles to move. Immune system fighting off low level attacks. Digestive juices and muscle contractions breaking down food in your stomach. Imagine the supernatural intervention that might be required in order to create even a single organism life form. What is the relationship between the Divine and life?

Your mantra for receiving might be “I open myself to receive a sense of awe at my very existence.”