The Purpose Posse: Set on Due Course
BY MARIA DENISE DOWD

Our vessel is graced with tireless souls. Determined in this soliloquy of life, To stay on due course for the North Star. Our collective energies crescendo, In a sea-foam green kind of way. Each season East meets West, South heads North. In b'twixt and b'tween, we stay on path. While the high seas are rapturous, They soon become tranquil. Tropical, then cool; still, then breezy. Through locks and twists, curls and waves, Our passion engulfs us in the sweetness Of the grassroots cause and the empowering effects. The navigator is on board, and so are the shipmates. Collectively we set sail…on due course.

Once upon a time, I heard the term "Purpose Posse." Bertice Berry used it and it became a permanent part of my "people meditations." Those two words rang a chime in my head at a time when it was dizzy with fighting what I already knew in my heart. I had allowed too many of the wrong people into my space and they were wreaking havoc on my legs and my legacy. I was in a place where I was chasing after and running from, and getting nowhere fast. I had finally come to a realization—and goodness was it painful—that this absolutely crazy time and place was a direct reflection of my ill-fated attempt to sail my ship in a direction that I knew wasn't right for me. My Spirit had leaks and those holes rendered my ability to listen to God's whispers impossible.

The comings and goings of men and women in our lives are not by random selection. The right people come into our lives at very specific times, for very specific reasons, as do the wrong people, if for no other reason than to prompt our internal Soul Purpose device and to nudge—or smack—us back onto our Divine-right path. The wrong people teach us one valuable lesson—discernment. And the truest test is on high seas. Who helps us sail through calm and stormy weather and uncharted courses? Who is there for the long haul, and who abandons us at the next port? Who feels like excess baggage? Who attempts to persuade us to debark before we've completed our journey? Who is so fear-filled they take f light or fight us to veer South, when our internal compass points North? Too often in our lives, we give rebels, pirates and other mutinous spirits permission to embark. And then we're forced to pay handsome ransoms for our liberation, our peace of mind.

Aside from that brief moment of insanity, my life continues to be blessed with many adoring, brilliant, innovative, authentic men and women who step onboard my vessel, bearing distinctive domestic and imported blends of soul-soothing and spirit-raising gifts. You know you're on purpose and with your Divine-right Purpose Posse when your heart is calm and your mind rides the waves with ease and grace. You know it because you feel it. And, you feel it because you've sealed the leaks and have allowed Spirit to guide you. Even when our "humanness" surfaces and rears its "oogly" side, we're there when our hearts remain open, loving, forgiving, insightful and faith-filled. Take a look around and take stock of the company you keep.

Keepers of Compassion wrap a thousand arms and thousand hearts around yours and understand from where you come, even when you don't understand yourself.

Keepers of Manhood are our brothers, fathers, uncles and grandfathers who call for discipline, respect and commitment to upholding family. They teach our boys and remind our men.

Keepers of Womanhood are our sisters, mothers, aunties and grandmothers who call for responsibility, nurturing and commitment to sustaining family. They teach our daughters and remind us.

Keepers of Spirituality and Healing Arts lay hands and help us to realign mind with body with spirit.

Keepers of the Compass are our logicians, our voices of reasoning and grounding. They check in to ensure that all things are on due course and according to schedule.

Keepers of the Rig and Cargo help to keep our cupboards stocked, our bodies able and our environment safe and sound from encroaching winds and water.

Keepers of Codes of Conduct remind us of our relationship with the universe, and with the laws of nature and humankind. And they hold court when duty calls.

Keepers of Remembrance and Insight are our conjuring storytellers and translators who "just know" of things past and how they shape things present and future.

Keepers of Commerce are the business minds who bring about the checks and balances in our lives.

Keepers of the Cozy bring us warmth, softness and nurturing. They grab hold and hug for no apparent reason. Then again, they always come at just the right moment. Always.

Keepers of the Chronicles are our lives' missionaries and journalists who silently follow our progress and keep us in their prayers and meditations.

Keepers of the Assist are the "extra" hands on deck. They are our enthusiastic comrades who help get the job, large or small, done. They are the "just doers."

Keepers of the Flame stand ready at the pilot light. They turn it up and bring it down…euphorically.

All are Keepers of our Lighthouses. They are our beacons, our sentinels, our heavenly and earthly angels who wave the lantern and help to guide our way…on due course.

A family is much more than folks connected by blood. They are the people whom we can depend on to make us laugh, soothe our hurts and keep us focused. They also enter our lives at different phases of our journey. My extended family is…

Use the past to understand the circumstance, not to predict the future.
—Robin Johnson

Copyright © 2004 by Maria D. Dowd.