Aligning with Grace

They say, you don't need much to be happy... They say, that happiness is a choice, or a state of mind or being, but I can't seem to wrap my mind around that today... In a few short hours, I will attend the wake of a young woman, a beloved former student, cut down in the prime of her youth, at the same time that I await to hear if a nephew will be hospitalized... And somehow, in my heart of hearts, I know that all these things are true - happiness is a choice - it comes from living more fully in the present and accepting all that is - as it is. And I know that it is gratitude that opens the door... I have tried to learn this lesson this year. I have tried to embody it - and yet it still eludes me. I know that illusion occludes this reality from being fully understood and embraced... I have walked this last week or so - listening to these lyrics by Mary Chapin Carpenter - hoping that every day, in every way, they become more firmly woven into the fabric of my life: Don’t need muc...

On this overcast day, cool and crisp, and reminiscent of the coming fall season, I am drawn to the river once again, with my coffee cup in hand, as I started almost every day, for the course of a year and and a half - three years ago in December... The river calls, and I return again... I came to this river to meditate almost daily, at a time during so many transitions and unanswered questions. I return once more, at a similar time once again, wondering what the future holds, and what will for me, in time unfold... It is hard to see, and harder still to know - what will come and what will be...But one more time, the river calls, and it still flows... I return again, not sure what to answer - or even ask... But this is a different river. They say you never step into the same river twice...My heart longs to get into the water to paddle, but I have deadlines to meet, and preparation for teaching and subbing for others this week...So I pause for just a moment, to offer these words... I wal...

The afternoon begins its measured descent into the waning light of day, as it deliberately chases the coming evening and its blanketing darkness. The golden light and the length of summer days reverses its trajectory and yields its gains without fanfare towards the advancing Autumn. In this sacred time between light of day, and dark of night, I take a moment to re-visit where I am, embraced by my eternal yearning, for greater solitude... I am not drawn to write, or to be with others, at this time, and I even refrain from the pull of social networking sites - choosing instead, to journey more deeply inward into a place of no words and greater silence... Memories of ushering in this summer in the company of friends at Wolf Trap, where we dutifully worshipped at the quirky altar of the guru-like Garrison Keillor, arise momentarily, before becoming scattered like the first leaves falling in the dryness of this late summer. This glorious event and yearly ritual, spent in the company of the ...