"...and setting all the good of the world against the evil, he came to the conclusion that it was a very decent and respectable sort of world after all." (Charles Dickens, 'Pickwick Papers')
All night and day the media barrage us with images of violence and pain. But for all the world's sorrows, despite the redundant images of suffering for which the press has such an insatiable appetite, the vast majority of humans, animals, trees and countless other creatures carry out their hourly growth and flowering in quiet serenity, with no whisper of terror, no tremor of violence.
At this moment, most children are playing in an empty lot, making up games in the street, or clambering up the limbs of a tree. Adults are practicing some daily duty, the anonymous sacrament of the commonplace; or running their fingers through the fur of a cat, or listening to a bird twitter in a branch near the window. And if we do not enjoy the sacred suchness of this moment, we have every opportunity to, even if we chooses instead to focus on bitter doubts, anxious fears, or the empty chatter of the television.
In this precious moment, we are free to awaken and give thanks for this breath, to feel the breeze touch our skin, listen to a raindrop, honor a blossoming weed that grows from beneath a cinder block, or gaze into the eyes of friend and say, "Thank you for being here with me in this wonderful moment, on this gifted earth."
1 comment:
Hi there, AKL. Nice blog you've got going here :)
Isn't it funny how things go. Even if we've been submerged in whatever stuff we're dealing with - for me lately it is a return, after some big life transitions, to the abject shame, fear and guilt I felt as a child in an abusive family. This space is like hell to me, and it's very hard to stay clear-sighted in it. (But still, for all that, onward and upward, and I welcome the revisit because I'm at the tail end of it, with some progress made :)
But isn't it funny how, after traumatic experiences, those blissful moments of everydayness. Today, after walking to the butcher and back to the car, out of the blue a feeling of bliss, a thankfulness to be here, to feel the peace and the stillness after the raging tide. And the prayer that follows as easy as breathing, "Thank you" :)
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