When I was born, I entered life as an air sign; a double one no less. I was an air Sun sign and an air Rising sign. Now, I never thought too much about all of this as I was growing up; although, in retrospect, I required a good amount of energy to remain anchored to earth. You see, while I was very organized and focused, I also “drifted” a lot. It was not even a steadfast drifting; rather, it was guided by the air currents, changeable in both direction and strength.

          This is only remotely interesting if one considers the relationship between an air sign and an earth sign. Earth signs to me are solidly anchored and do not spend all that much time tripping and stumbling their way through life. I cannot tell you the number of ridges on sidewalks that have caused me to stumble or the curbs I have misjudged because I was observing or daydreaming. I never quite believed that Earth had demands of her own that necessitated me staying present to the requirements for living safely.

          Which brings me to my point—the law of gravity! This attraction toward earth assures that any mass, i.e., my body, “falls,” or is drawn to, a more powerful mass, the earth.  Thus, the trips and stumbles that I experience draw me inevitably downward. Being an air sign will not protect me in any manner of speaking from my disregard of this law.

          So, why am I chattering on so much about gravity and my persistent clumsiness in the face of the earth’s willingness to embrace me when I trip? While my “air sign-ness” is not the big issue with my falling, the progression of years has created a big sensitivity about the clumsiness factor in my world. Thus, I have developed an intense awareness of discovering how I might walk through the world with peace and grace as I age.

          Generally, the average person can trip, fall, pick themselves up and see a lovely little bruise as a trophy of the experience. As one ages, these events take on greater significance and have bigger consequences. Not that long ago, for example, I was walking down a staircase at our local convention center. Carrying my paperwork in the same hand that needed to be holding the railing but wasn’t, I noted the last step was a lovely wooden one. That step was not last; I went flying, landing with a resounding thump on my right hip. Unable to walk after being helped to an upright position, I began the healing journey after being welcomed so warmly by the floor.

            Truthfully…I have been thinking a lot about the consequences of gravity’s law of attraction, which I didn’t when I was 4, or even 34. Although it has a profound effect on any body at any age, the older among us develop a fear of falling. We pray that falling is relegated to leaves, to snow or to puff pastry. The body, while a resilient and perfectly designed mechanism, does not respond well to bones and tissue connecting with concrete, cobblestones, or marble in an abrupt fashion.

          Eventually, I began to transform this fear of falling by contemplating two divergent points of view.  Shaun David Hutchenson, the author of the teen book We Are the Ants, says this—”Sometimes I think gravity may be death in disguise.”  His comment may make little sense to a 10 year old but it exerts great power on the thinking of an 80+ year old; whence comes the fear associated with falling. While I have done no research on elder death as a result of gravitational forces, even a casual investigation suggests that falls among the elderly are a significant cause of death. And, I am not yet ready for that transition.

          The other point of view comes only from a book title. While I have read the book, it is the title which has become so precious to me. Teresa of Avila wrote a book entitled Falling into Grace. The title alone convinces me! That is, while one may succumb to one of the laws of nature, one may also experience God’s grace, however it appears. Given the force of my fall, for example, I experienced a non-displaced pelvic fracture that would require only time rather than surgery to heal.  In the face of my inattention to my environment, the result only be labeled grace.

          While I do acknowledge that the pull of gravity can surely be a cause of death for many, my preference is to see the experience as one filled with grace. It has, in more ways than one, snapped me into attention. I want to be “present” in my life; obviously, I wasn’t or I would not have ignored the inner voice that reminded me of the stair railing. In addition, I am now aware and present to my body in motion and its collaboration with gravity.

          Amazingly, it often takes an event such as one I described to bring attention to the immutability of natural law; one cannot con nature. By the same token, the spiritual laws of the universe exhibit the same immutability. For example, the law of attraction works no differently in spirit or in nature. If I maintain a conviction that I am physically safe, then I manifest safety via my awareness and presence.

          Should one my readers say, “HA, you still fell and hurt yourself,” I can only respond with this thought. You are right, I did fall because I was not paying attention to the messages about the railing. Plus, this event reminded me that I was frequently not present for my own life. I must practice presence to assure that I attracted the safety my body requires. Besides all that, God’s grace was in the midst of it all–I need time for the healing and no surgery!