Aligning with Grace

This month is just about over, and I can't for the life of me, tell you where it went! I had a lot of goals and projects, and while I took care of some minor ones, it seems I hardly made a dent on my list. Perhaps it is the heaviness that seems to permeate so much on the planet right now - war in several places, including the conflict between Israel and Gaza, which I visited, just over 7 months ago. Even then, I was very much struck by how two people co-existed in the same, very small area - and were literally invisible to one another. The tension was palpable. I wanted to take them both by hand - the Jew and the Muslim - and say to them: "Here, look at each other! You share the same land and ancestry! You are children descended from the same man - Abraham!" There is also the matter of the planes recently shot down from the sky, particularly the one over the Ukraine, so many innocent lives needlessly taken. It just does not seem to be to me the kind of summer I had ...

What do you hear when you are silent? Take a moment, or two - or several minutes - and spend it in silence, and note what you "hear..." For a while now, I have been observing what I've come to refer to as "Sabbath Sundays" and "Silent Tuesdays."  On Sundays, for most of the day, I try and unplug from all things technological, including all my devices. In fact, I was describing this recently to someone I know, explaining how I literally place a shroud over my iMac, by covering it with a beautiful lace veil a dear friend made for me. The friend I was talking to, knowing my cultural origins, completely understood the metaphor and exclaimed,  "Oh! It's a mantilla for your iMac!" On Tuesdays, I have been taking a day of silence. Generally I sleep in, then sit in meditation with no fixed ending time, just letting the practice bring itself gently to conclusion. I try not to run errands of any sort, and often do not speak until my husba...

The Buddhists teach that the only constant in life is change... But I don't do well with change... In fact, if truth be told, I hate change. I love stability. And that, in itself, is an illusion. There is no such thing as stability... Nothing remains the same... There is no "happily ever after." As a child, I moved around a lot. Which meant enrolling in different schools often in mid-year, trying to make new friends, then just about getting settled, only to have to pick up and move once again. Though it had it's opportunities, it also had its challenges... I did not want that for my son, so I tried to give him what I did not have - the opportunity to go to one school from kindergarten to eighth grade, to spend all four years in one high school - and not have to move half-way as I did - and to be able to attend the same university for all four years. He went to wonderful schools and his best friend from kindergarten is still his best friend today. In fact, his friends ...

My life and schedule opened up unexpectedly this morning, given to me as a gift, so I made my way down to the river, which I had not visited since last week... The day before yesterday we had an ice storm, so schools were canceled. I tried to go out for a walk, but came back home after nearly killing myself in the process. But today, everything was melting, and the sun was shining through the clouds. I was down at the river a little later than I usually am - some time during the mid-morning, and the river was beautiful. It was warmer, and the sun was peaking through the clouds, and it felt delicious to turn my face towards it and soak in its healing rays. The ice covering the river seem more thin - and overhead I could hear the ice melting off of the trees, dripping onto the partially thawed ice on the grass as well. The air was fresh, and I filled my lungs with it. Overhead, two crows danced from one maple tree to the other, and then settled down. Soon, they were joined by a cacophony...