Hello my dear friends,
After a long hiatus, I am finally drawn back to the page to contemplate and ruminate about all that it is...on the surface and the depth. I confess I got the idea of surface and depth from today's reading from "The Book of Awakening" by Mark Nepo. In it, he talks about how the surface and depth of the ocean are inseparable, how what happens in the depths affects the surface and vice versa; how the stillness makes the depth more transparent; how a storm on the surface can churn things up and make the depth murky and unseeable.
So here I am. Gentle breezes play with the leaves of the silver maple while the sun teases the grass through the gaps in the shade. Sparrows chirping in the vine on the fence are backed up by jets flying overhead and the occassional car passing by. To the person who lives out in the country or is sitting in a canoe in the Boundary Waters (BWCA), this is noise. To the woman whose son just got married and who has her first quiet day in months, this is stillness and silence. I resisted the silence at first; choosing instead to busy myself with doing the crossword puzzle in the paper, then cleaning up after yesterday's Dragonfly Project event, then washing dishes and straightening up the living room. At last I gave in to the call. I gathered up my tea, my book and headed out to the stillness of my patio. And here I am.
A simple little tune from Song Circle rises within me, "Wake at dawn with a winged heart, wake a dawn with a wing-ed heart, give thanks, give thanks, for another day of loving." The words from Kahlil Gibran bring tears from my depth. I am still at last and suddenly my depth feels easier to be with, easier to see and know. The tears feel good; a sign that I am fully present to the Spirit within me and around me; a sign that I am alive. Give thanks for another day of loving. Yes, even after all the guests have gone home, even after the party is over and the new couple is off on their honeymoon, even after the death of a precious father-in-law and the struggle to get healthy, there is much to be in love with.
This is another day to love; another day to let what happens on the surface stir our soul; another day to let what we know deep within us to be expressed in our words or our step. This is another day to take in the sacrament of fresh air, to wonder at the color of strawberries, to sing with the birds or bark with the dogs. This is a day to love the connection between us and all that is.
Right now, I am grateful to have the option, the chance to have feet planted securely on the ground, to open my heart to all that is right here, to love who I am and who you are as we dance and work and stumble and get back up. I am just grateful to be alive and have another day to love you, my dear friends and family. And I give thanks for the stillness when i can see into your depth and mine and know our love with more strength and intimacy than ever before.
sending my love your way,
jules
