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July - September, 2008

All Things Are Lessons in Awakening

Rev. Robert Stoelting

Recently I had an experience that filled me with gratitude for the inspiration from Holy Spirit. One of the things that needed to be done as part of preparing the house for sale was to fill an 8 inch hole in a basement concrete block wall.

I went to a nearby building supply store to purchase mortar mix several months ago. I asked the store associate what he recommended for what I was trying to do. He directed me to the material I needed and then gave some tips on how to do it. First he said to get some rocks or bricks or whatever I could use to fill the space so I wouldn’t have to fill it all with mortar. Then he told me that after I had put on the finishing layer, to come back about an hour and a half later and rub it with a rag to loosen the surface to give it a texture similar to the concrete block around it. He said, “I know this works because I was a union master mason for 30 years.” I left the store with gratitude for the connection with this resource that could help me do something I had never done before.

It was several months before I actually got to the project. More than 30 years ago I had helped lay a concrete block privacy wall, but that was the extent of my experience in working with mortar. I knew that the amount of water added to the mix was very important. Too little and it would be crumbly and difficult to get to stay in place. Too much water would make the mix soft so that it would tend to slump or sag. But I didn’t know from memory what it would look like if the mixture was correct.

As I prepared the mix, I practiced staying in peace. I added water until it seemed right. When I used the mortar, it worked perfectly. The first step in filling the holes was putting in the brick and stones with the mortar to hold everything in place and fill the inner part of the hole. The second step was to add mortar and fill it to about a half-inch from the surface of the wall.

Again I practiced staying in peace as I prepared the mix and added the mortar to the hole. In these first two stages I used a tool that was a little too small for the finishing stage. I knew I had a larger one but was not able to find it. When I started preparing for the final step, my eyes were drawn to a shelf, and I saw the tool I needed. In my mind I said, “Thank You.”

Again I practiced staying in peace as I mixed the final batch of mortar. This time I felt to add a little more water than I had the first two times. An image came to me for how to hold the trowel and apply the mortar to the hole. It worked beautifully and smoothly. When I was done, my heart was filled with gratitude for Holy Spirit’s guidance as I cleaned the tools.

I planned to wait an hour and a half according to the directions I remembered. It was dinner time so I ate dinner and completely forgot about needing to go back. About two hours later Spirit reminded me of what remained to be done. So I went back to the patch and used the technique I had been told about. It worked perfectly. And once again I was filled with gratitude.

There is no way the patch would have been as well finished if I had done all the planning on my own. To me this experience was a demonstration that I am not alone. It was not about a good patch. It was about the practice of stepping back, letting go of control and following.

It was truly a lesson that I need care for nothing because all that I need is provided, even at the level of the dream. Because I did not try to do it on my own, it was a lesson in joining. It is an example that all things can be lessons in awakening.

© 2008, Pathways of Light. https://www.pathwaysoflight.org
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