In Conversation with Camille Adams Helminski and Realigning to Source, Transforming our Lives and our World
Conversation with Camille Adams Helminski timeline:
00.00- 1.12 Introduction- who Camille is and more about Threshold Society
1.12- 3.00 How the daughter of a part-baptist, part-episcopalian came to the Sufi path
3.00- 4.50 How she fell in love with Rumi's ability to express to the heart the journey of the soul and despite studying Bhuddism felt a deeper yearning for a heart connection which pulled them to Turkey where her and her husband Kabir met Suleyman Dede.
4.50- 8.16 How through Rumi she learnedTaqwa- alignment with Spirit and the Source of Life. How her love for Mary which began as a Christian, deepened through Mevlana. How Sufism ultimately opened space for deepening and coming into completion with One's Source.
8.16- 14.22 Camille shares about the tragedy of her parents passing away, how with difficulty comes ease and how we're held within Unity all the time. Jamal and Jalal- the beauty and power all contained within the gifts of the Divine.
14.22- 17.45 Camille discuss her journey of how the book "Women of Sufism" came into being.
17.45- 19.58 Camille and Tazeen discuss the Prophet's wife Khadija, her strength, loyalty and belief in the Prophet. Camille also shares about Rabia al Adawiyya one of the most important and foremost Sufi grandmothers.
19.58- 24.26 Camille reminds us about the gifts of subtle awareness and how love is with us even within the darkness. Remembering to witness and opening to the gift in every moment and keep turning in gratitude for all of it (the good and the bad).
24.26-27.11 Camille shares some beautiful reminders of how to bring the spiritual into everyday mundane and challenging moments.
27.11-28.79 Camille brings us some of the Names of God that work through their opposites.
28.79-33.07 Camille and Tazeen discuss the Bees and what the Quran, the Bible and Rumi say about the importance of the Bees and God's Grace.
33.07- 35.00- Remembrance of the Breath and surrender to Love.
This time 9 years ago, I bought our very first Christmas tree. I did it partly to honour a Christain guest who was staying with us and partly because as a child I had always wanted to have one at this time of year but they were “forbidden.” After I bought it was I plagued with self-doubt, guilt and questions which were triggered by a relative who proclaimed that having a Christmas tree is “Pagan” and “Unislamic.” At the time, I turned to my spiritual guide and teacher Camille Adams Helminski who suggested I reflect on how the tree is a symbol of the “evergreen” nature of Spirit that is continually enlivening us and of the eternal light that keeps our hears lit with His/Her grace even in the midst of darkness, irrespective of our beliefs and personal religious doctrines.
Camille steered me to the many passages in the Quran which honour trees of different kinds and the light that comes from them, even the “lote-tree of paradise.” And our beloved Prophet who said, “Even if you know the world will end tomorrow, plant a tree,”
Since then we are trying to support more tree planting, something which our environment desperately needs.
https://www.nature.org/en-us/get-involved/how-to-help/plant-a-billion/
Her guidance those 9 years ago stay with me today as I hang our beautiful gifted hummingbird onto the tree and am filled with hope when I sit back and play with my children in the evening.
In Camille’s words,
“The more we can do to honor the deepening of faith
and joy of spirit for each other, the better this world may become at
emanating that fragrance and becoming a more peaceful and wholesome
place for our children and our children's children. May we become true
human beings, standing in that One Light, washed continually with the
love of the One.”
As I prepare to attend Midnight Mass this year with my Christian friend, I reflect upon these words from the Bible.
The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.
He makes me lie down in green pastures: He leads me beside tranquil waters.
He restores my soul: He guides me along the paths of righteousness for His name’s sake. Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I will fear no harm:
for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.
You prepare a table before me in the presence of those who challenge me:
You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.
Surely goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life:
and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.
[The Bible, 23rd Psalm of Prophet David: 1-6]
Today, with the challenges to the environment we have a collective responsibility to come together and “do our part.” (See 28.28 on Camille’s interview timeline.) This summer Camille experienced the presence of the bees. During her visit to France this August, she observed how Paris has banned pesticides in a move to save the bees.
https://geneticliteracyproject.org/2019/09/13/paris-bans-synthetic-pesticides-as-french-anti-chemical-movement-gains-momentum/
She guides us to reflect upon this verse in the Quran:
And your Sustainer taught the bee to build its cells
in hills, on trees, and in dwelling places,
then to eat of all that the earth produces
and to skilfully find the spacious paths of its Lord. There issues from within their bodies a
drink of varied hues containing healing for human beings:
truly, in this is a sign for those who reflect.
[Quran, Surah an Nahl, The Bee, 16: 66-69]
Collective movements for saving the bees are being witnessed across Europe. In Holland for example the Dutch city of Utrecht has transformed 316 of its bus stops into “bee stops” to combat the declining bee population.
Photo credit: Clear Channel
Elsewhere, Norway has built a “bee highway” through its capital, Oslo. https://www.visitnorway.com/places-to-go/eastern-norway/oslo/the-bee-highway/
Photo: Norway Beehives
Meanwhile Berlin is one of a number of cities around the world to have introduced urban hives in a bid to support bee populations.
In England, habitat loss and widespread use of insecticides and agrichemicals has led to insect numbers plummeting in recent years. I will ashamedly confess, like many of us, I held no great affection for creepy crawlies. It’s easy to overlook the crucial role they play in supporting ecosystems. Sitting at the bottom of the food web, they are also nature’s waste disposers, crucial to decomposition. Without them we would more than likely go hungry, with many crops needing pollinators to thrive. Needless to say, their decline has been a huge concern for the environment.
Source: Nature Communications
This Spring however, World Economic Forum reported London is planting a giant bee corridor to boost insect numbers
https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2019/05/london-is-planting-a-giant-bee-corridor/
A seven-mile wildflower corridor is being planted in parkland to provide a safe haven for insects. Londoners are also being encouraged to leave lawns instead of laying down gravel or paving.
So maybe it’s time to explore some more how we relate to our environment and what we can do to support it?
Bees of Your Haven
~ Camille Hamilton Adams Helminski, Notes from Love’ville
Nothing would exist without Your Love. Bees find
their way
to sip
a flower’s fragrance;
we find
our way
to nestle
in
Your Sanctuary,
everywhere
abundant,
pouring sustenance
through the keyhole
to Your Refuge.
Light finds
its way
through every crack
in our defenses;
the door,
You set,
we forget
to open,
flies wide
to welcome
all souls
who turn
in recognition
of the Source
of all that nourishes,
all that heals
our riven bones,
our fractured hearts,
our complicated minds, untangled, restored,
stretched, at rest,
in the shade of Your Love,
in the sunshine of Your Grace, upon the grass,
soft as a willow’s down,
along the river’s side
where the table is set
and all
are invited,
always, and now.
Photo Credit: Rahin Noor
This Christmas may we find ways to plant more trees, grow patches of wildnerness for our bees, and be open to how with diffuclty comes ease.
Watch Camille’s interview to learn more about how she fell in love with Rumi, the Sufi path and what it brought to her heart. She shares about how the death of her parents brought unexpected openings, discusses her books such as Women of Sufism and reminds us of the gifts of subtle awareness and how love accompanies us always (even within the darkness.) Remembering to witness and opening to the gift in every moment and keep turning in gratitude for all of it (the good and the bad).
This Christmas, may the…” Mary of your body give birth to the Jesus of your Spirit.” Rumi