The Gathering
One night after a particularly long day, I was getting ready for bed and I heard an inner prompting. The voice of Spirit within that said, “I need you to paint.” I responded the way that I often do, with a certain “you can’t tell me what to do” attitude. ”I am tired. I am going to bed. It is almost midnight.” There was silence for a while as I got myself into bed and turned off the lights and settled in. Then the voice started again, “I really need you to paint.” I had been lying there for about 20 minutes, and it became self-evident that I was not going to be sleeping anyway, so I reluctantly got up and moved into cooperation with what I was being asked to do.
Still a bit reticent to get started, I reached for a piece of watercolor paper, the smallest one that I could find. The voice started again, “Ahhh, bigger, please.” So I went into the closet, and in an attempt to surrender and cooperate, I asked, “So, what do you want me to use?” As I started picking up canvases, starting with the smaller ones, the response was the same, “Bigger, please.” So I took out the biggest one that I had at the time, a four-foot by five-foot canvas and hung it on the wall. The response was, “That will work.”
At some point early on in the process, I realized that I was being asked to do something other than just paint. It was clear by the column of light streaming through me, that I was holding the light, a vigil and prayer for someone or something. So I asked for Spirit to assist me in the whole process, for greater awareness and cooperation, starting with what brush to use and what colors to start with, and I did my best to be present with what I was being asked to do and respond. I also asked to be used in any way that would contribute to what I was being asked to do.
It was an interesting dance of listening inside and following the energy and the flow of the brush, the canvas, and the subtle directions coming from within. It became a process of allowing my consciousness to be prompted to do every brushstroke on the canvas, choose every color. I felt like I was waiting for the colors to call me to use it next, and in the process I was aware of allowing the painting to let me know what it needed as well.
After about 30 minutes, I started to see the angels gathering one by one, holding the light; their presence was very present with me in the room. I had a sense of holding for something, the space of love, honor, and celebration for an event that I was not aware of yet but certainly felt the energy. It was palpable in the room, very present in me, in my hands, in my body and in the painting. I seemed to move out of the time and space continuum and be present with the light as the angels presented themselves one by one on the canvas.
I was painting for about five hours in a state of grace and cooperation, with no concept of time, tiredness, or anything else on this level. I had become one with the voice. It was no longer speaking; it was like I was painting with the voice. It moved my hands; it touched my heart; and the presence of the angels built as they appeared on the canvas. The voice had stopped prompting me, as it was no longer needed—we were co-creating together. In the stillness, the voice came present again and said, “Okay, you can go to sleep now.” I had covered about 80 percent of the canvas and was a bit surprised by what I considered an abrupt completion. It jarred me out of the space that had been created. I responded, “Seriously? I am almost done.” The response was, “You can do whatever you want now. What I needed you to do is complete for now.” I thought I would stay up and finish, but as soon as the conversation was over, I started to get very sleepy, which was not a surprise as it was 5:30 in the morning. So I cleaned up and went to bed. I did not go to sleep right away as I was vibrating and had a lot of energy moving through me, and then finally I went off to sleep.
Later that morning, I learned that a friend had made her transition overnight. The moment I heard that it became immediately clear to me what the process and the painting was about. I was being used to hold the light for her as she made her transition off the planet. The angels I painted were the group that came to celebrate her life, her loving, and to honor and welcome her as she ascended back into the light.
The painting took me a few days to complete; I waited for the prompting of the voice to call me back to it. I am learning that it is the only way to maintain the integrity of the experience and the painting. If I don’t wait, it can shift the energy of the painting into something else. Usually, it becomes a whole new painting. I am aware of the opportunity to honor what the painting has to say and to come back to complete it when I am in the same flow. Patience, listening, and cooperating while co-creating brings forward greater blessings and prayers for me to engage in and share. It is a beautiful way for me to manifest beauty and grace onto the planet through my art and my participation. I am grateful for all the ways Spirit uses me, and this is one of the most beautiful. Here is a photo of the painting aptly called The Gathering.
