Please Hear My Call

     Imagine just for a moment that we’re sitting in the attic of your heart. And, let’s pretend that your heart was shaped like a bag and it was filled to capacity with various things. If we opened your bags, what would we find tucked away? What has, rightfully, found a home in your heart? What things are there temporarily? Can you see the difference? There is a difference between what things should find a home in our hearts and the ones that should be given a 30-day eviction notice to vacate the premises. Yet, we’ll never know unless we crawl into the attic and take a peek into our hearts from time to time to see what’s there. Some things don’t belong, and if they stay too long, they will wreak havoc on the good things that are meant to be there forever leaving nothing an opportunity to be salvaged.

Think about that for a moment.

I hear things through song and music of all genres. The song that comes to mind here is “Bag Lady” by Erykah Badu. The lyrics say, “Bag Lady, you gone hurt your back, dragging all them bags like that. I guess nobody ever told you, all you must hold on to is you, is you, is you….”

     Last week on Tuesday evening there was this forceful storm that began. It was so peculiar to me because storms don’t typically happen this way. So, I paid close attention to every element of it. Before the rain even began, the wind was very wild and unruly. As I came closer to my balcony, I could see the tree outside the window and how it made great effort to endure the wind as unusual as it was. I could not only see, but I could also hear how severely hard the wind was blowing. It was tumultuous, to say the least. Even the lake waters were being stirred up in a great way! Now, I personally enjoy storms especially when I’m indoors and can sit and watch them unfold. Storms speak to me; they are a source of inspiration for me. I receive something when it rains or storms even if it is, simply, rest. But, this storm was different. I knew it meant so much more. I am not a storm chaser, but, I was drawn in closer to watch it and feel the fresh air as it blew harshly. I stood at my balcony door with it wide open. I stared through the screen looking up at the clouds... they were moving just like the lake and the trees. I saw multiple shades of grey and formations of clouds. So, I spoke to them as if they could hear me. I pleaded for them to hear my call. I waited. I wanted them to know that I could hear them. So, I waited. I wanted them to know that I was listening. And as soon as I did, it was like something in my soul just opened wide and I began to cry openly and outwardly. There was this yearning in my heart to create a clear path…to clear the way. I didn’t fully know what it meant at first, but then thoughts came. I, carefully, took time to look at everything that crossed my mind, and it was like God was giving me a chance to empty myself during this storm of anything and everything that I needed to let go of- things recent and things past. Then, as my tears ceased, the rain began, and I felt this song that I had not listened to in a very long time by Jill Scott entitled, “Hear My Call.” I played it and sat quietly so that I could purge and let go of all that needed to go. This was a spiritual moment for me. It felt the movement as if the wind was blowing through me like it was in the clouds, water and tree. It was like cleaning out the attic. I was going through my thoughts and feelings on everything and organizing them- putting them in order. Because things had been happening so quickly I was, symbolically, only throwing them up in the attic for later. So, now was the time when I could allow time and space to put things in their rightful place and to throw out the things that I no longer had use for…because it was so necessary. It was a time of cleansing, so timely and much needed. So much had happened within a short span of time- in my inner world and in the outer world- that my heart was wrestling with and I needed to deal with it all and clear it away to create a path for my heart to beat again and breathe again in its rightful rhythm. And when my rightful rhythm returned, I was able to dance. Oh yeah, I danced, because I was free!  

Sometimes we don’t know what it is that’s bothering us, but there will be this unsettling gut feeling or strange feeling in the center of our chest. Some things you just cannot shake. It will linger and just seem to never go away. It is real and is not to be ignored. Pay close attention to it. Don’t just push it down in the bags of your heart suppressing it to a place where it is never to be dealt with or revisited, but open those bags and deal with it, whatever “it” is, and process through it so that you can experience growth, find answers and understanding and forever have free space in your heart. So, that all that you are holding on to, is YOU!

I listened to the cues of my heart and in the moment that was created just for me during the storm. Your moment may not happen during a storm such as the one that occurred last week, but something will occur to draw you in closer to listen. When it happens, as strange as it may seem… will you hear the call!!?!! I ask that you do... Please!

Please listen to the song, “Hear My Call” by Jill Scott and let it speak to you as it spoke to me: https://youtu.be/VtapoGukzCA