We have spent the last month contemplating the Mayan altar as a way to invite us to deeper exploration of our relationship with each other, with the Earth, and with God, who is both Father and Mother, Spirit of Heaven and Spirit of Earth. As we conclude our journey, we consider how we might continue to cultivate our spiritual awakening in our everyday lives, to care for the altar of our hearts.

Wisdom and the Word:

"Even today, some elderly indigenous invoke the Creator before they begin an activity; before eating, traveling, cutting a tree, making a house, planting, harvesting, before making a request, starting a business, etc." Pop Wuj: Book of Time (Mythic-historic Poem of the Kí-ché, translated from the original text by Adrián I. Chávez), Biblioteca de Cultura Popular, Ediciones del Sol, ©1994, p. 171, note 4.

"O Lord, you have probed me, you know me: you know when I sit and stand; you understand my thoughts from afar. My travels and my rest you mark; with all my ways you are familiar...Probe me, God, know my heart; try me, know my concerns. See if my way is crooked, then lead me in the ancient paths." Psalm 139.

"Let mystery have its place in you,/do not always be turning up your whole soil with the plowshare of self-examination,/but have a little fallow corner in your heart ready for any seed the wind may bring,/and reserve a nook of shadow for the passing bird;/keep a place in your heart for the unexpected guests,/an altar to an unknown God."

By Henri Frederic Amiel

According to the Mayan calendar "tzolk'in," every day is animated by a special energy or spirit, a "nahual." Each person can look to five "nahuales" or energies that are associated with his or her date of birth. The five "nahuales" correspond to the five points of the Mayan altar. The north point is the date of our conception; the center the date of our birth; and the south, our destination or final goal. To our right, the east represents the legacy of our grandparents, and on our left, the west points to our future and our hope. For the Maya, each of us carries a unique altar within us. Our "nahuales" or energies indicate both our positive attributes and negative tendencies. Because God gives us the capacity to choose, we are free to discern how we might transform our shortcomings into strengths and cultivate our gifts for the good of others and the Earth. Every day we can pay attention to how our choices invite or reject the Divine Creator.

How might I awaken to the sacred in the ordinary moments of my life?

How might I tend to the altar of my heart, to leave space for the holy and unexpected?

Divine Mystery, thank you for endowing me with unique gifts and challenges. Awaken me to the sacred in the everyday moments of my life so I may embrace Creation, my sisters and brothers, and myself. Grant me patience to forgive my weaknesses, tenderness to care for the altar of my heart, and courage to choose the path that leads me toward your Divine Mystery.