There is a song from the musical Showboat called “After the Ball.” It’s lyrics seem appropriate today after the great opening and party that took place yesterday at Center for Spiritual Living Kaua`i’s new space at the Hongwanji Mission Hall. The lyrics go like this:

“After the ball is over,
After the break of morn,
After the dancers leaving,
After the stars are gone;
Many a heart is aching,
If you could read them all;
Many the hopes that have vanished
After the ball.”

I’m wondering if anyone is feeling this today. We had a great party. It was the start of something new. Everyone was enthusiastic and partied and ate and spoke words of congratulations. However, what now? As I said in my talk yesterday, are we still dancing? Are we still living in the oneness we felt yesterday, after the ball? Are we still walking as the change we want to see in the world and what part does CSL Kaua`i have in all of this? Who will truly join us?

I’m thinking about this today. I feel the momentum of yesterday, and all the hopes and dreams of so many. I feel my mission stronger than ever; and yet, it will take many helping hands to bring forth the power of this Center on a daily basis. Are we up to it? That is the question I keep asking. Then, all at once I realize I am asking the wrong question. This has nothing to do with who is up for what. This has to do with an energy that has been set on a trajectory toward knowing and experiencing the highest consciousness for our world. It is a trajectory that is moving with or without us. It will either move us or it will find someone else or some other entity to move into action. We must let go and surrender to this momentum. The path will be made clear. I’m reminded of the words of Joseph Campbell:

“…If you do follow your bliss, you put yourself on a kind of track that has been there all the while waiting for you, and the life you out to be living is the one you are living. When you can see that, you begin to meet people who are in the field of your bliss, and they open the doors to you. I say, follow your bliss and don’t be afraid, and doors will open where you didn’t know they were going to be. If you follow your bliss, doors will open for you that wouldn’t have opened for anyone else.”

The Divine intervention that is coming forward right now is being moved by a million souls everywhere, seen and unseen. The planet is in need of a Divine Intervention and it will have that Divine Intervention. It isn’t about the little tasks of taking out garbages or mopping floors that sometimes plague my mind. It isn’t about how many people attend on a Sunday. It is about who is moving those mops. It’s about what is in the soul of those who do attend. “One alone in consciousness with the Infinite constitutes a complete majority.” Ernest Holmes

CSL Kaua`i and its Institute of Magnificence is beyond a building. We are happy to have a home to meet in and to take care of, but what we create in the world has nothing to do with that. What we create in the world is going to take our own spiritual education. It is going to take our own self-development. It is going to take digging deep into our own consciousness and clearing out anything that isn’t love for the self or others. It is going to take compassion. It is going to take taking a stand in the world and not being afraid to live as our true selves – God, and to see God in everything.

I am an absolutist when it comes to the knowing that we are responsible for ourselves and our own consciousness. I am an absolutist when it comes to knowing that we can change our thoughts and beliefs. I am an absolutist when it comes to knowing that there is a Principle that can stand up through any experience.

What I want for Center for Spiritual Living Kaua’i is what we say in our vision and mission statements:

Our vision is to “Awaken humanity to its magnificence by walking the bridge from duality to unity.“

Our mission: “We offer a safe space and the spiritual tools to facilitate the awakening of the individual’s inner power to express successful relationships, optimum health, and a prosperous and creative life!”

Center for Spiritual Living Kaua`i is here for one purpose and one purpose only. It is here for you. It is here for you, as a place where you can stretch and grow at your own speed. We promise to offer the ways to do that. I trust that all who align with what we offer will come and join us. We are building an intentional community with one goal and that is to be the best and highest versions of ourselves, so we can walk as examples of love, compassion, creativity and true soul connection to each other and the God within all of us. The ball may be over, but we have just begun.

Love and Aloha,

Rev. Rita Andriello-Feren, Author, Teacher, Artist and Spiritual Director of Center for Spiritual Living Kaua`i. My books are available on AMAZON.