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Creating Bridges: Spirituality & Philosophy:
The Conscious Column
Cupcakes
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by Rev. David Ault |
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740 CAPACITY read the sign in bold black letters on the gymnasium wall, yet more than 800 people were showing up. The weekly Wednesday meeting had grown so swiftly that there simply weren’t enough seats for the scores of people pouring through the door. The fire marshal became a weekly visitor.
From all over the United States, Mexico, Canada and Great Britain, those seeking comfort and answers flocked to this 2 hour plus meeting hoping to find some sanity in it all.
It was the mid-1980’s. The meeting was in West Hollywood Park in Los Angeles and everyone had come to see and hear author and metaphysician Louise Hay. These weekly gatherings, called the Hay-ride, were one of the first spiritual support groups of its kind formulated to meet the needs of those challenged by AIDS.
No respecter of persons, this emotionally wrenching and stigma-filled epidemic brought together the young and old, professionals and poor, all sitting side by side, raw with emotion, looking to Louise for guidance or tools – most praying she would tell them everything was going to be OK.
Faithfully, with common vulnerability, the diagnosed came, sometimes alone – sometimes with partners and friends.
Parents, many discovering that their child was gay AND ill all in one avalanche of emotion, wandered in with glazed eyes. Women, minorities, clergy and large legions of empathic supporters gathered week after week, sharing their struggles, their hopes – everyone silently pleading to their respective God for a cure.
Along with my dear friends Jerry and Keith, we began composing and singing songs of hope and comfort – songs reinforcing Louise’ message of self love and nurturing.
One memorable night after we had sung, chanted and prayed, a mother stood up to share.
Like so many mothers before her, she glanced over the crowd, her watery eyes adjusting to the hundreds of faces staring back at her. She hesitated, creating a huge lingering inhale as if breathing in a dose of oxygenated courage and began.
“We have a little ritual in our family,” she started.
“Many years ago – gosh, I can’t even tell you when now, my son Timothy suggested that we celebrate everything. He had read or seen something about an orphanage in Africa or Cambodia – I really can’t remember the specifics – but it spoke about the resilience of these children. Even in the midst of famine, war, disease, these children had formed a bond without adult supervision or coaching. They had simply decided they would watch out for one another, praise one another, and share in the successes of one another. I guess somehow they knew this would make their journey seem less alone and that together they would somehow create a better life. They shared and celebrated everything.
One day my son, Timothy announced that as a family, we were going to do the same.
It started out as a simple bonding practice but it grew into something much more deep and meaningful. Over time, we started to experiment with what it meant to celebrate everything. When I say everything – I mean everything. Whether it was a glowing report card from one of my kids, or a traffic ticket – we celebrated. Whether it was getting a new puppy or my husband being laid off – we celebrated. The goal was to do our best at not judging events in our lives as good or bad but to just view them as part of life’s curriculum – learn from them, uncover the lessons and do our best to grow – to celebrate it all. To add to the ritual, we started making cupcakes. Nearly everyday we would stand at our kitchen counter, raise one of the freshly baked cupcakes in the air and make a celebratory toast at whatever event life had brought us.
Quite honestly, when I developed breast cancer, it was challenging for me to stand at that counter, hold up that cupcake and feel that there was anything about this situation that I could celebrate. Yet we had agreed – no matter what.
So week after week, with my hair falling out, nauseous from chemo, I stood with my kids, my husband and celebrated life as best I could. My daughter even decorated the tops with icing stick figures that depicted long flowing hair. Something about that unfailing ritual kept pivoting my focus towards the good and I attribute being cancer free for over 5 years now to the steadfastness of standing at that counter with my family and celebrating.
She hesitated. Her gaze drifted towards the floor, then she continued.
“Today’s cupcake has been the hardest to swallow,” she said shakily, her voice filling with emotion.
“My son, Timothy died last night from his many challenges with AIDS. Pneumonia set in and for the last week he has needed assistance in breathing. He kept slipping in and out of consciousness. I brought a new cupcake with me to the hospital everyday and would place it on the tray in front of him. Sometimes I placed it on his chest. It brought me comfort to watch the cupcake rise and fall with his breath – it told me there was still life in his body – there was still a chance that my baby would live.
When it was obviously too much for him, he simply gave up and let go.”
“I’m angry,” she continued, her gaze now rising to readdress the crowd.
“I’m angry that my baby boy is gone. I’m angry that the world will never get to experience the heart of this young man and the good that always seemed to follow wherever he went.”
She breathed in another long, slow breath of courage and her shaky words, were now accompanied by a steady flow of tears.
“And,” she paused, breathing even harder, “I know that Timothy would not want me to stay like this. Otherwise, what would be the point of his life? What would be his legacy?”
And with that she reached in her coat pocket and brought out something wrapped in tin foil. She peeled away the folded layers to reveal a cupcake.
“We stood at the counter this morning, my daughter, husband and I, that same familiar smell coming from the oven and I tried to toast Timothy but I just couldn’t. So I was wondering if tonight, you would be like those orphaned village children and help me out?”
In the magic of that unforgettable moment, she lifted the cupcake in the air.
The rest of us, following, lifted a symbolic cupcake in the air to make a toast.
“To Timothy,” she reverently spoke, “in celebration of a life well-lived.”
“May I never forget your example - may I always see the vision of something greater - may I continue to celebrate and honor it all.”
Moments such as those – moments that teach us what is precious and what is real - moments that remind us that in and through all things, whether we can see it or not, there is unfailing beauty and grace – that is the true essence of living. When we focus on anything other than that constant divinity, we deny life.
As we enter into another new year, can we agree that in 2006 we will stand around the counters of our collective kitchens and, without fail, celebrate each day? Do we have the willingness to seek out the divine order that is operating in the non-physical as well as the physical and begin allowing ourselves to experience the majesty of this world as was our original intent?
My prayer is that you do. May this New Year bring to you the never-ending awareness that there is a power for good, ever-present, running through each and every activity of life. May you allow the tangible results of that into your experience. May you release all resistance to it. And, may we all raise a cupcake in the air and salute the good as it weaves its beauty in and through each precious day.
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David Ault
Visionary Vocalist, Author & Motivational Speaker
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David Ault is highly regarded as one of the finest visionary vocalists and motivational speakers within the New Thought/transformational movement.
His focus on remembering the Divine within and reclaiming that connection has empowered hundreds of thousands on their spiritual journey. The union of David’s charismatic message and heartfelt singing has elevated him to guest speaker of choice in many nationwide churches and global organizations.
As a licensed minister and practitioner through Religious Science International, as well as author, songwriter/recording artist, David has traveled and shared his gifts for well over fifteen years.
Working closely with notables Louise Hay and Marianne Williamson and sharing the stage with many cherished mentors ranging from the late Og Mandino to Dr. Barbara King, Jerald Jampolsky, Elizabeth Kubler-Ross, Father Leo Booth and Mary Manin-Morrisey, David harvested that experience and developed his own unique style of teaching. His compassionate presence, warmth and humor continue to be an unforgettable guidepost for audiences as they rediscover and reawaken to their personal magnificence.
Starting out as a professional actor and singer, David worked extensively in Broadway tour shows, film and television winning critics awards in both New York and Los Angeles.
Throughout the 1980’s, David, along with the late Jerry Florence and Keith Kimberlin made their mark in New thought history by helping pioneer an unexplored musical genre—visionary vocal music. Known as Alliance, their remarkable blend became legendary, helping establish them as one of the most successful vocal groups in the Spiritual recording field.
David continues this musical path with the release of his critically acclaimed recordings, The Healing Bridge, Travelin’ With The Angels, All Is Calm, All Is Bright, And Then It Is Morning, all distributed through his Los Angeles based organization, The Conscious Company. Now, his highly anticipated literary debut, Where Regret Cannot Find Me, is heralded as “a fresh and exciting discovery in Spiritual literature ... a work of pure heart!”
“I feel extremely blessed and grateful in following this path”, says David. “It is my ongoing intention to create a message in word and music that assists us all in reawakening to our personal magnificence!”
www.davidault.com
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