GREAT MORNING BELOVED!!

“The Wizard of Oz – Surrender Dorothy”

This week we get to talk a little about our main character, Dorothy.

Joey Green tells us, “Your hearts’ desire is your destiny” but then he reminds us that we must first give up our attachment to the outcome.

It’s not giving up intention, just the attachment to the result. In this way we give over, we surrender to the creative intelligence of the cosmos. Go with the flow…allow it to unfold before you.

Dorothy certainly did surrender to the tornado! She got her dream of adventure, but certainly not what she thought it would be.

But she DID get to see things from a different perspective. We’ve discussed our perspective several times over the years. It’s important to remember that what you are seeing is most often NOT the whole picture.

Here’s an example from William Bausch’s book, “The Yellow Brick Road – A Storytellers Approach to the Spiritual Journey.”
Told from a missionary’s viewpoint…” At one time, myself and a family – a mother, a father and two children-were living in the same quarters in China, all under house arrest. We had been under house arrest for several years and we were living somewhat comfortably. One day a soldier came and told the family, “You can all return to America, but you may take only two hundred pounds of belongings with you, no more, no less.”
Well, we had been there for two years. Two hundred pounds. So, the family got a scale, and then the arguments started between the husband and the wife and the two children: “I must have this vase.” “I must take this typewriter; it’s almost new.” “I must have these books.” “I must take this…I must take that.”
And so, they weighed everything, took off, weighed it, put back on. Back and forth, back and forth, until finally they got it just precisely on the dot: two hundred pounds.
The soldier returned the next day and said, “ready to go?” The parents said, “Yes.” He said, “Did you weigh everything?” They said, “Yes.” “Did you weigh your kids?” “No, we didn’t.” He said, “Weigh the kids.”
And in a moment, off went the typewriter, off went the vase, off went the books, into the trash. All the things that they thought they could not do without-into the trash.
This family certainly saw things differently when faced with a tough but really simple choice.

When the Wicked Witch of the West writes; “Surrender Dorothy” across the sky, it’s obvious, Dorothy has attracted an enemy. But she doesn’t let the Wicked Witch deter her until her precious Toto is threatened. She will eventually face some choices and in the end, she choose to remain with her intent to return to Kansas and her Aunt Em.

Dorothy has attracted a serious enemy in the Wicked Witch of the West. But even our worst enemy has something to teach us. The Witch’s ruthless desire to gain the ruby slippers inadvertently teaches Dorothy how to detach from her own burning desire.

Can you recall lessons learned from people or situations that, at the time, you might have considered the enemy?
Were they permanent lessons or do you have to go through that situation one more time?

The tornado certainly seemed to be an answer to Dorothy’s dream for a life more than dreary Kansas. Now she has choices: she can stay in Technicolor Munchkinland and be a heroine. Her only threat is the Wicked Witch of the West who threatens her: “I’ll get you, my pretty, and your little dog too.”

Glinda lets Dorothy know that the ruby slippers will protect her. Remember, the slippers are our ‘inner spark.’
Why does Dorothy wish to return to drab Kansas? She could live as a hero in Munchkinland, protected by the ruby slippers and Glinda. It was her dream, after all, to go somewhere over the rainbow and now she’s in the colorful land of Oz, she wants to go back.

Isn’t that surrendering? Isn’t she forsaking her dream?

Does Dorothy really belong in Munchkinland? Under these circumstances, some would say she was a freak, a giant, and probably worse. She’d be a minority of one, forever out of step with the citizenry.

In a sense, these are the same reasons she had to leave Kansas – she was the only one to stand up to Miss Gulch, even though, Miss Gulch owned half the county.

Dorothy could also make Emerald City her home, after all, the citizens welcomed her with open arms. And when the Wizard finally agreed to see them and asked for the ‘very small task’ of the Wicked Witches broomstick, they could have said no and just stayed in the city.

Again, there’s no future for Dorothy in the Emerald City. The citizens just laugh all day, wake at noon, start work at one, take an hour for lunch and finish work by two.

Dorothy is much more ambitious – just look at all she’s done already to get to Emerald City.

And again, Dorothy could live in the Wicked Witch’s castle now that she is dead. The green faced Winkie Guards and blue faced Winged Monkeys were pleased that the witch was dead. “Hail to Dorothy! The Wicked Witch is Dead.”
Living there goes against Dorothy’s nature.

Ever feel like that…like you don’t belong? You searched for a Spiritual Family and you belong here.

When it looks as if her last chance to return to Kansas floats away with the balloon, she says, “But this could never be like Kansas,” insinuating that there are no dreams for her to dream in Oz.

DO you remember, she gave up on her dream to explore when she ran back to the farm after Professor Marvel tricked her into wanted to go back to Auntie EM.

There’s a difference between desire and intent. The Desire to return to Kansas includes attachment to the outcome. It becomes an obsession.

An intention has no attachment. Dorothy intends to return to Kansas but has no attachment to the outcome. There is no longer an obsession.

By letting go of our desire and by participating with detached involvement, you open up to infinite possibilities.
Dorothy never seems to give up her attachment of her goal. She never seems to put her life on the line for anyone. In fact, many would say she is nothing more than a self-centered child.

Getting sent to bed without supper to save Toto from Miss Gulch is hardly a self-sacrifice. And running away never thinking what it would do to Aunt Em & Uncle Henry is a cowardly act,

In Oz, the Scare Crow, Tin Man & Lion all risk their lives for Dorothy.

Only when she surrenders the ruby slippers to the Wicked Witch to save Toto does she sacrifice herself to the witch’s mercy. She also surrenders her desire to get back to Kansas, but not her intention.

Dorothy believed her chance to return to Kansas left with the balloon, so her desire left with it. But she still intended to go, but the obsession is gone.

Only when Glinda comes does she see things from a different perspective, in this case, from within, using her ‘inner spark’, her ruby slippers.

If only we all had a pair of ruby slippers…..but we do! We all have that inner spark that can guide us if we would just connect to it.

Let’s do that now in meditation.