A New Paddle for Grace

I decide to sleep in, and after my morning meditation, I go down to the river for a while...It is so quiet, and the water as still as it could possibly be. I almost debate whether to go in, but I have decided to spend this Election Day very differently - by engaging in several spiritual practices since I have already voted...

I go to walk the labyrinth and have it practically all to myself for an hour. I am accompanied by one cricket and a few flies which do not move from their various spots. They are silent witnesses to my prayers...

I pick up a meditation slip from the basket of suggestions and it seems so appropriate:

"Take me out of my loneliness,
as I walk toward the quiet center of my heart."

This becomes a mantra that I repeat - over and over again - as I walk in towards the center. I sit there for what seems to be a very long time...

On my way out I begin to recite the mantra again but it morphs into:

"Take me out of my loneliness,
as I walk toward the quiet center of Thy Heart."

So many memories flooding my heart and soul as I walk...

I think of this election and its outcome, and how it is the most important one of my adult lifetime...I think of so many channelings that for years indicated that 2008 through 2012 would be crucial years for our evolution as a species...I also think of Obama losing his grandmother and how bittersweet his experience must be...

I stop at REI on the way home and buy a new paddle for Grace. And of course I come home and take her out onto the river to try it out. I also get a new vest - and both the paddle and the vest are officially a "periwinkle" color - though it seems like a shade of lavendar to me and as close to purple as I can get...

It is overcast and dark, and on the surface of the water float a legion of leaves that have been cast off from their respective trees and homes. I feel one with these leaves - floating in exile...

I meditate briefly and then I float for a while, enjoying the silence, that is only interrupted by the birds and flapping fish...

Just a short time afterwards, raindrops begin to fall and beckon me back to shore...

I know that my days on the water are numbered and I am grateful for the gift of this river...

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