Aligning with Grace

I was given a gift today. It was the gift of a blue butterfly... After a lazy morning, sleeping in and moving slowly, I went for a walk, listening to Andy Williams tunes, like the song - "Try to Remember that kind of September..." The day was warm, and beautiful - and I thought to myself, I do live that kind of September where life is now mellow..." Half way through my walk, a blue butterfly flew almost directly in front of me and then perched itself on the branch of a Leyland Cypress on the edge of the path. It spread its wings magnificently, and stayed there - unwavering, for what seemed to be an eternity... I looked at it, only inches from me, and was surprised it did not move, and seemed not afraid of me in anyway. I was determined not to be the one who moved first. Almost immediately, I felt my heart flooded with incredible love for this creature - for all creatures - as I thought of loved ones in my life. In that moment, time stood still and I felt a deep...

I sit in meditation, mindful of all my Jewish friends, commemorating Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, on this beautiful and sunny fall day... I contemplate my sins - and give intent to cast them away - intending to do so with a ritual of Tashlich by the river, to follow my morning yoga class... I consider all the things within my soul that lay unforgiven. I consider all those that I need to forgive, and all those I need to be forgiven by as well... I even consider forgiving the unforgivable - unspeakable crimes such as those of the Holocaust, and those perpetrated in the Killing Fields of Cambodia, just to note a couple... I consider other examples of genocide and still other unspeakable crimes such as the rape of a child. There are others I do not wish to dwell on... After my class, I head down to the river with cracker crumbs in my pockets and empty them into the river where a swirling legion of tiny tadpoles circle around the crackers. I step into the river in my crocs as car...

"This is the beginning of a new day. God has given me this day to use as I will. I can waste it or grow in its light and be of service to others. But what I do with this day is important because I have exchanged a day of my life for it. When tomorrow comes, today will be gone forever. I hope I will not regret the price I paid for it." ~ Anonymous This morning the river looked different. Because of recent rains, it was swollen, and yet paradoxically calm at the same time. The currents were deceptively visible in a very understated way. I would have liked to have gone paddling, but I had a lot to attend to... It was simply glorious - sunny - and just slightly cool - that kind of day that is both cool and warm at the same time - straddling two seasons - a last gasp of summer welcoming the nascent harvest time of autumn. I did my Reiki and Lovingkindness meditations and sent healing energy to a small list of souls very much in need of physical and spiritual ...

L'Shana Tovah... On this day of Rosh Hashanah - the New Year for Jews everywhere - "may you be inscribed in the Book of Life for a good year!" I wake up on this crisp fall morning, and the fog takes my breath away, reminding me of a few short years ago, when I went paddling in the fog on this day, and on Yom Kippur as well... I sold my truck this weekend, so I no longer have a handy way of bringing Grace, my kayak, down to the river - but I do head down for a visit nonetheless - and do my morning ablutions by the banks of the river... I walk down to the boat launch area, gingerly stepping into the water's edge where it meets and merges with its concrete retainer... In front of me the sight is breathtaking - the hydrilla - the river grasses which have over populated the water this year - punctuates the vast sea of grey spreading out before me - spilling out of its normal boundaries - as it separates the heavens above from the earth below... This is a time for new begin...

I am my sister's keeper... And my brother's as well... We are all interconnected on so many levels - those levels that are seen - and those that are unseen... I think of this, as I go out for breakfast one morning this week, and leave a five dollar tip for the waitress who so attentively took care of me. The bill only amounts to $8.59, but I know this is not easy work at times. Though I frequent this establishment regularly, I've never had this server before. On my way out, as I am settling my bill, she seeks me out, and with a big and beautiful smile, she thanks me for the tip. It makes my day, for in touching her - she touches me. I am her keeper, and she is mine - and we are one... I think of this, as so many dear sister soul friends face situations where their whole lives are being turned upside down and refashioned, by circumstances outside of their control... I think of this, as dear friends face surgery, or its aftermath, and a mother and wife remakes a life on her o...

The month is nearly half way through, and slowly I am wandering from room to room - weeding out all that does not seem necessary to me right now - such as volumes upon volumes that I will never read - again or ever - diligently uncluttering crevices - and clearing corners and surfaces - in this inexplicable urge to cleanse and simplify... It began with my meditation/office area - or perhaps earlier this summer when we finally bought a new car to replace my unreliable and not so fuel efficient ride... In my meditation space I have rearranged countless and priceless murtis and statues - shifting energy - but also segregating my collection as well - bringing to the forefront energies I most identify with at the moment. I felt compelled to move things around on my altar, and clear it up a bit. Now things feel clean and a bit more spacious - at least from the energetic perspective. It is a season for change... This whole year has been about change in so many ways - some were unexpected and ...

The air is crisp - and the cloudless sky is the most brilliant blue I've seen in a long time... That is the day that I woke up to, as I remembered where I was, eleven years ago today... I was sitting in my classroom, waiting for my first class of the day to begin later in the morning, with the television droning in the background. I stepped out for a moment to check on something, when I ran into a colleague coming out of the elevator saying that a plane had just crashed into one of the Twin Towers at the World Trade Center. I made it quickly back to my classroom, and there watched the recap of the news, and then - like millions of others - watched the rest of the events of the day unfolding live, including the second plane hitting and the subsequent crumbling of the towers. It was all so surreal... From the fourth floor of my school, Georgetown Visitation Preparatory School, in Georgetown, I could see the flames from the Pentagon. I remember the chaos of those moments and the many ...

September has arrived, and we are slouching towards fall... I think of this, on my walk, as I examine the first of the leaves that have fallen from the trees, partially due to the drought conditions of this summer, but also partially due to the exhaustion these trees have experienced during the hottest summer on record... With the coming fall season we release the past season, ever mindful that it a time for both endings and new beginnings... Angeles Arriens, in her book, Living in Gratitude , writes about this time of year: "In September, we reenter our daily lives from a renewed place and move forward into full engagement. We are able to see more clearly our blessings and our learnings, and we experience the gratitude that naturally results. And we seek opportunities to bring our lives into congruence with the new perspectives we have gained..." It is also a time to recommit to goals, choices we may have abandoned or forgotten, and implement needed changes for the coming se...

I believe in unity... And I believe in diversity... I also believe there is unity in diversity... At the heart of things, I believe we are all one... Every woman, man and child on this planet, are interrelated... I believe in Dr. Spock's theology - that the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few... I believe that we all want the same things - love, liberty, well-being, health - and the pursuit of happiness... I believe there is more that unites us - than divides us... I believe that at our core - we are all the same... I believe that we can all get along... I believe in community... I believe we can work together... The Dalai Lama once said - that he had never met a stranger... We can all be Good Samaritans... I believe we can reach out and touch one another - and that when we do - we touch ourselves... I believe this - because I believe in God - and I believe that each one of us - is made in the image and likeness of God... I believe in unity... And I believe in diversity...