New Life

 It's finally warm enough to sit outside in the garden this morning and as I look around, I am witness to signs of new life everywhere, which fills me with a sense of awe and wonder. There are early spring flowers, green new shoots budding with promise, robins busy building nests and a tiny baby rabbit hopping into the shrubbery. These sights fill me with those gifts of the Spirit that give life meaning...peace, joy and hope.

Who hasn't held a newborn baby, a kitten or a puppy and been filled with a sublime rush of wonder at the miracle of life?  We are fascinated by videos of kittens or baby monkeys; enchanted  by adorable creatures in miniature.

If you really think about the process of creation, it is very humbling and awe-inspiring. To think that an egg and a sperm united can become a child, or a seed that appears dead can sprout and grow when given water, soil and sunlight, should surely make us acutely aware that there must be a Creator. The Intelligent Designer behind it all has made an endless array of living beings, each one a small miracle.

We live on a beautiful planet, inhabited by beautiful beings and this morning, I am especially grateful. Just for today, I will release my worries about war and injustice, hatred and crime, poverty and pain. I will choose to see "whatever is excellent or praiseworthy"; I will give thanks for the miracle of new life and the hope that it can inspire in me.

The Glory of Now

On this Easter Monday morning, I step outside and the world seems magical...frost sparkling on new grass, brilliant yellow daffodils, hyacinths beginning to open. 

I take a deep in-breath and see with clarity that this moment will never happen again; that each second of our lives and the whole natural world around us, is a precious, never-to-be- repeated, glorious experience of now. Yet, I wonder, how much of this clarity of vision do I miss in my day-to-day life?

We spend so much of our lives thinking about the past and planning for the future that we are often not wholly focused on the present. We can get lost in a mind maze of busyness, rushing here or there to meet our obligations. In our down time, we are either ruminating about something or zoning out with T.V. or a cocktail to calm the "hamster wheel" of conscious thought.

Eckhart Tolle, in his book The Power of Now, calls the experience of now "that intensely alive state that is free of time, free of problems, free of thinking and free of the burden of personality."  He points out that some people love to engage in dangerous activities, such as mountain climbing, intense sports and car racing, because it forces them into the Now, where slipping away from the present moment even for a second, may mean death. 

I don't believe we have to engage in death-defying activities to enter into the now.  It is a state that most spiritual traditions teach about: Jesus said that we should not be anxious nor worry; to look at "the birds of the air "; to "consider the lilies" and how God cares for them.  Rumi, the great teacher of Sufism, said that "past and future veil God from our sight". Likewise, Buddhism focuses on meditation as a tool to reach the eternal present that enables one to let go of obsessive thoughts about the past and future and to thus transcend suffering. According to Eckhart Tolle, "the whole essence of Zen Buddhism consists in walking on the razor's edge of Now--to be so utterly, so completely present that no problem, no suffering, nothing that is not who you are in your essence, can survive in you."

So how do we begin to enter into this state of "Now" and connect with the essence of who we are?  Tolle presents a concept that for me, is a little nugget of truth that I can wrap my head around.  He suggests thinking about ourselves in terms of "the watcher" and "the thinker". The thinker is the conscious, rational mind, the part of us that is constantly chattering and busy. The watcher, on the other hand, is the eternal, still presence that is capable of observing the thinking. If we separate the two and silently observe the thinker, we begin to enter into a whole new state of awareness, one that is connected to the eternal, unchanging Presence that we call God.

Try this simple exercise to begin:

Start with observing the breath and then just watching the thoughts, rather than trying to control them. Let them drift away, like a leaf caught in the breeze. Be aware of the eternal, silent Presence within..."Be still and know that I am God" (Psalm 46:10).  Meditate this way for  a few moments and then take this presence of being with you, observing the world with fresh, alert eyes that are wholly focused on each precious moment. Use the conscious mind, but don't let it control you...be aware of it and thankful for it, but not immersed in its chatter. 

 Practice mindfulness throughout the day,
continually bringing the mind back to the now moment. 
Let go of the past and do not be anxious about the future... be here now

 

The One World

 Yesterday afternoon, I was walking my dog in North Ponds Park, feeling invigorated by the cold, early spring wind. I watched a Blue Heron take off across the pond and fly through the slate colored sky toward the shaft of sunlight shining through the clouds. The sight was so beautiful it took my breath away and I imagined myself flying through the same sky, "free as a bird", letting all my cares and worries go.  I thought of a favorite poem by Mary Oliver called "Poem of the One World":

 

This morning
the beautiful white heron
was floating above the water 

and then into the sky of this
the one world
we all belong to

where everything
sooner or later
is a part of everything else

which thought made me feel
for a little while
quite beautiful myself.

Oh, this one world we all belong to.. where there is beauty and joy, pain and sorrow, all interwoven.  If we are going to allow ourselves to feel, we have to experience it all.  We cannot ignore the horrors of war in Ukraine, the rising cost of food, or the threats of Covid, gun violence and climate change, because once we enter into the grace of unity, we must embrace it all.  

But what can we do about it all, really?  We can pray, certainly and I have faith that this does really help. But I ask myself, "are there tangible ways I can help"?

I had an interesting story in my inbox this morning from "Daily Om", called "Stone Soup". You may be familiar with the children's story, which is about a weary traveler going door to door in a village in search of help:

"There are many variations on the story of stone soup, but they all involve a traveler coming into a town beset by famine. The inhabitants try to discourage the traveler from staying, fearing he wants them to give him food. They tell him in no uncertain terms that there's no food anywhere to be found. The traveler explains that he doesn't need any food and that, in fact, he was planning to make a soup to share with all of them. The villagers watch suspiciously as he builds a fire and fills a cauldron with water. With great ceremony, he pulls a stone from a bag, dropping the stone into the pot of water. He sniffs the brew extravagantly and exclaims how delicious stone soup is. As the villagers begin to show interest, he mentions how good the soup would be with just a little cabbage in it. A villager brings out a cabbage to share. This episode repeats itself until the soup has cabbage, carrots, onions, and beets -- indeed, a substantial soup that feeds everyone in the village. 

This story addresses the human tendency to hoard in times of deprivation. When resources are scarce, we pull back and put all of our energy into self-preservation. We isolate ourselves and shut out others. As the story of stone soup reveals, in doing so, we often deprive ourselves and everyone else of a feast. This metaphor plays out beyond the realm of food. We hoard ideas, love, and energy, thinking we will be richer if we keep them to ourselves, when in truth we make the world, and ourselves, poorer whenever we greedily stockpile our reserves. The traveler was able to see that the villagers were holding back, and he had the genius to draw them out and inspire them to give, thus creating a spread that none of them could have created alone".

We may feel that our small contributions can't possibly make a difference, but, as in the story of Stone Soup, when we let go of our fear and open our hearts to give whatever we can, sharing the gifts that God has given us, together we can create a feast.

Spiritual Spring Cleaning

 This morning, I am adapting and reposting a blog that I wrote a year ago, because the message just feels right for today and I feel, bears repeating. I hope you agree!

I am writing this on an early Spring morning…gray and chilly still, but with the scent of new life in the air. I throw open the window and listen to the birds at my feeder, excitedly announcing this time of rebirth. My thoughts turn towards spring cleaning, rebirth and renewal and how these can serve as metaphors for our own spiritual growth.

I really don't enjoy cleaning at all, but my mother-n-law, Joan, who passed on several years ago, left behind a legacy of ritualistic spring cleaning. Every March. Joan would empty and wash every cupboard and closet, scrub every wall and window and launder every curtain and rug.  Top to bottom, everything received a thorough airing, cleaning and reorganizing.  No matter how chilly it was, she would throw open the windows, disinfecting with sunlight and fresh air every nook and cranny of her beautiful home.

When she reached the age of eighty, still in her own home, still doing her spring cleaning, she said to me "You know, Patti, I just don't enjoy it like I used to", which of course made me chuckle. Although I couldn't relate to ever enjoying cleaning, I did admire her spunk and energy.

So, as we enter into this season of Spring, I think of Joan with love and admiration and try to apply her spring cleaning lessons to spirituality, which resonates a bit more with me than actual physical cleaning (which I really should do as well)!

• Emptying:  Releasing old hurts, resentments, anger, sadness, anxiety, fear of the future, regrets of the past.  I go outside, face the sun, breathe deeply and let it all go.
• Washing:  On my in-breath, I visualize the pure white light of the Spirit coursing through my body from the top of my head, out through my feet, clearing any debris, washing me clean.
• Scrubbing: Washing alone can't always do the job.  There are always stubborn stains, crevices, hidden grime, etc. that need a little scrubbing with a stiff brush. What old habits and patterns are hard to break, but no longer serve me?  What accumulated junk in my home or heart needs to be thrown out and replaced with new, fresh, beautiful things?
• Laundering:  Water is a metaphor for the Spirit.  Ask for help and be given the cleansing, renewing refreshment of the Spirit.  This water is restorative; showered freely on all who ask.
• Airing: Breath is another metaphor for Spirit. As I breathe in, I feel the gentle wind and Light of Spirit, disinfecting any areas in need of inner healing, airing out anything that has previously been hidden and needs to come out into the open. Like wounds that need sunlight and fresh air, my inner emotional wounds can be healed as well.
• Reorganizing: After cleansing, I need to replace old energy with new; negative thought patterns with positive, inspirational messages. Whatever speaks to my heart, whether it's scripture, quotes from inspiring leaders, poetry or song.  Embrace the new, let go of the old.  Be encouraged and strong, create new habits, create positive change in my home, my heart and the world.

This is a process, I know, that is not easy. I cling to old ways of thinking and doing things, as most of us do. But I can start with today, letting go of something old, breathing in the cleansing refreshment of God's Spirit, claiming the Light of renewal and taking one small baby step toward something fresh and new! 

 

“Create in me a clean heart and renew a steadfast spirit within me” Psalm 51:10

 

 

 

Patti Curtin