Lessons from the Fish
The river is totally calm, and the sky and the trees on the other side of the riverbank are clearly reflected in the waters...
Every once in a while a bass jumps out of the river and splashes about with such joy, it seems as if it is dancing! There are weeks at a time I come down to this river and never see one at all, but today, they are very active, and every few minutes another one hurls itself heaven-ward, sending out undulating concentric ripples into the stillness and the silence...
The bass are the only ones seeming to enjoy the river this morning, and myself of course. I have come to do my Loving-kindness meditations, and most especially pray for a soul facing her fifth surgery in recent years, with one more to go...
The prayers tumble out of me, as if they are being prayed through me, only to be punctuated by the occasional splash of the fish. One of them jumps several feet above the water with its mouth very wide open, momentarily suspended in mid-air, as if it has something to say...
It is so beautiful here, that I want to stay for a much longer while, but I must soon return home. I want to get a long walk in before the temperature climbs to skirt around the 90 degree mark again today...
I look out at the broad expanse of the river once again, noting the gentle unfurling of leaves on the other side, soon to provide a dense and impenetrable canopy, and I think of Hildegard of Bingen who wrote of the "greening power of God" in the 12th century. Truly God's hand in written all over creation...
I feel so present, and so totally alive, listening to the fish, the geese, and the chirping of other birds nearby and it occurs to me that the fish are giving me lessons. I remember reading an article this week titled "The Zen of the Squirrel," and what these creatures can teach members of the business community. Like the squirrels, the fish too, have much to impart to its human companions on this earth. They do not think of what comes next. They do not worry about the past. Neither are they anxious about the future. They are just going along for the ride...
Be mindful. Be present. Be joyful: In everything you are, and everything you do. Listen deeply. Notice everything. Slow down. Take time: To commune with nature. There is only Now... What else could there be?
http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/the-zen-of-the-squirrel/2013/04/09/ad5a044c-a12c-11e2-82bc-511538ae90a4_story.html#
Every once in a while a bass jumps out of the river and splashes about with such joy, it seems as if it is dancing! There are weeks at a time I come down to this river and never see one at all, but today, they are very active, and every few minutes another one hurls itself heaven-ward, sending out undulating concentric ripples into the stillness and the silence...
The bass are the only ones seeming to enjoy the river this morning, and myself of course. I have come to do my Loving-kindness meditations, and most especially pray for a soul facing her fifth surgery in recent years, with one more to go...
The prayers tumble out of me, as if they are being prayed through me, only to be punctuated by the occasional splash of the fish. One of them jumps several feet above the water with its mouth very wide open, momentarily suspended in mid-air, as if it has something to say...
It is so beautiful here, that I want to stay for a much longer while, but I must soon return home. I want to get a long walk in before the temperature climbs to skirt around the 90 degree mark again today...
I look out at the broad expanse of the river once again, noting the gentle unfurling of leaves on the other side, soon to provide a dense and impenetrable canopy, and I think of Hildegard of Bingen who wrote of the "greening power of God" in the 12th century. Truly God's hand in written all over creation...
I feel so present, and so totally alive, listening to the fish, the geese, and the chirping of other birds nearby and it occurs to me that the fish are giving me lessons. I remember reading an article this week titled "The Zen of the Squirrel," and what these creatures can teach members of the business community. Like the squirrels, the fish too, have much to impart to its human companions on this earth. They do not think of what comes next. They do not worry about the past. Neither are they anxious about the future. They are just going along for the ride...
Be mindful. Be present. Be joyful: In everything you are, and everything you do. Listen deeply. Notice everything. Slow down. Take time: To commune with nature. There is only Now... What else could there be?
http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/the-zen-of-the-squirrel/2013/04/09/ad5a044c-a12c-11e2-82bc-511538ae90a4_story.html#
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