Last Mask Center: Asking for Spirit's Help in Challenging Times

Asking for Spirit's Help in Challenging Times

By Ann H. Hughes

I had the opportunity of a lifetime coming up and I didn't want to blow it: the chance to spend six days riding across the country with my 30-year-old daughter who had just completed a residential treatment program for depression. She had finally agreed to let me fly out and drive back with her, after initially saying she'd rather be by herself. That was a victory. But when I wrote her a note, laying out some suggestions about where we might stop and how long it might take, she bristled.

We talked on the phone a few days later. She laid into me. "How come you did all this planning and didn't consult with me?" On one hand, I was thrilled she was standing up for herself for a change, but she had misinterpreted my intent. I tried to explain to her that I merely meant to suggest some tentative ideas, subject to her input and approval. I apologized for doing it in writing. It should have been discussed on the phone, but getting her on the phone was next to impossible, unless arranged in advance, and I needed to make a plan, as I had to be back by a specific date. We smoothed it over, but I was getting the picture: She was very touchy, and this trip could be a disaster for our relationship if I didn't handle it very carefully.

This was weighing on my mind when I attended my every-other-week journey class soon after. The first journey assignment was personal journey, so I took the opportunity to ask Spirit: "Show me how I can best serve my daughter on our upcoming trip."

I journeyed to my Upper World teacher. She took me on a walk through the mist, showing me to be yielding and unsubstantial. I also got a message to pray for safe travel and to treat my daughter to a day at the spa in Hot Springs, Arkansas, (where I wanted to stop to dig crystals).

Asking Spirit had worked really well for me once, so, when I had a chance to do so again in my Advanced Training weekend, I jumped at it. For a "channeling" exercise, I was partnered with a person who knew nothing at all about my upcoming trip or my relationship with my daughter. He was channeling Gandhi, when I asked: "How should I be with my daughter on our upcoming trip together?"

He responded, "There need to be quiet moments. Allow the silence to build. Let her initiate. Let her put out energy; you take it in. Reflect before reacting. Her energy must be put out first. Let her think of the questions. You need to want to see the world through her eyes."

This seemed a remarkable confirmation of what I'd seen before, only it gave me even more detail. Considering that my partner knew nothing at all about this situation, I really knew Spirit was talking to me.

As a homework assignment for our Advanced Class, we were asked to do a 1-3 day fast for some higher purpose. I decided to fast the week before my departure date and to use my fast to release all excess from my body, mind and heart. My intention was to clean myself out, to make myself into a hollow reed, so I might be totally receptive to my daughter. I wanted to be able to fully serve her, support her purpose of re-entering her life as a more self-aware, self-assured person.

The fast was interesting. I got to notice that I have a habit of resisting things-even the things I say I want to do. I got a headache. I got irritable. Finally, I went to a very relaxing movie, Rivers and Tides, which showed a Scottish sculptor constructing shapes out of stone on a beach (and then the tide takes his art away). This was an inspiring demonstration of release, and I started feeling better afterwards. The other thing I got to see was that I was able to "get off it" when I noticed myself resisting my intention. That was very strengthening, as was the final piece of my preparation.

I was miraculously invited to attend a sweat lodge the Sunday before I left on my trip (and this was also the second day of my fast). Once more, I had the opportunity to seek help from Spirit, this time, by publicly praying for safe travels and for Spirit's help in keeping me hollow and in my daughter's service. I really felt in my bones the strong support of the women I sweated with and the Power I prayed to. It was a very profound experience that gave me total confidence that I could do what Spirit wanted me to do on this trip.

I continued a fast of chocolate through the end of our trip. I knew the urge to eat chocolate would come up every day and thus would serve as a constant reminder.

One final message from Spirit came via a dream that came to me the night after I did the sweat lodge. I'm in a dark tunnel, crouching on a rock, looking at a loose stone path over a deep chasm of rushing water. By picking your way carefully over the rocks, you can avoid dropping to your death and being swept into the maelstrom. Towards me, a 1-year-old baby, by itself, toddles over the stones. One misstep will sweep it away. My impulse is to yell, "Watch out!" and try to help. But the baby's doing pretty well on its own, so I just keep quiet and watch. Behind me, there's another child who is sick of trying and wants to go over the edge. Instead of trying to rescue it, I watch it go down over the edge of the abyss. My lesson seems to be: Others must find their own way on the path of life. Watch and hope, but don't interfere.

I'm pleased to say the trip went well. My daughter got bent out of shape once or twice, but I didn't resist, and she soon apologized. She drove when she wanted to drive and we stopped when she wanted to stop. We did spend a relaxing day at the spa and a day digging crystals. She wanted to fill the space on the road with books on tape for the most part. But, on the last afternoon, when she was finally ready to talk, we cleared some stuff from the past, and parted friends the next day.

Thank you, Spirit, for always being there, profoundly, when we ask.

Ann H. Hughes is a graduate of the Masks of Illusion Workshops I - IV. She is also the author of Soul Connection: A Birthmother's Healing Journey, available on Amazon.com.