Aligning with Grace

This is the time of year many of us go on vacation... We begin to slow down.... My favorite places to visit are religious or spiritual in nature - mostly connected to a spiritual titan of the past. I relish walking the same land and perhaps the same path that someone I hold in high esteem for their thoughts or insightful writings once walked. But don't get me wrong, I like a beach trip or a European trip as much as much as anyone else as well! For several years, at least before the pandemic, I loved going to Florida, where I went to college, to visit many friends, and relatives that live there. But I've especially enjoyed exploring places - or journeying deep inside of myself just as much as getting on a plane. Yes, I call it - taking a journey of the heart... Whether you go away this summer, or whether you are unable to venture forth, go on a pilgrimage of the heart, It doesn't take much or cost anything. Just some quiet time is all that is needed. And some stillness. A go...

Are you one of those persons always in motion? Always trying to get from point A to point B? Have you spent most of your life acquiring things - degrees, trainings, certificates, collectibles?  Is life always about "more this" or "more that?" Is it about traveling to every state or as many countries as you can? Or learning more languages? Or getting better at a game - a sport - or something? Are things always a means to an end? We spend a lot of our lives working towards something. But what I am coming to realize more and more as I get older is - that it's not about the destination. It's always about the journey. Now, looking back at my life, I am seeing more deeply that "less is more." If I could do some things again - I'd certainly acquire less. Now, I am consumed with establishing a more zen like life - with less material things - less striving - and less "to do" things on my list. But it's not easy. There is the continual matt...

Yesterday was one of those magnificently beautiful spring days, and something told me to go out on a morning walk, which I don't normally do on a Sunday morning. I often take a path with a fork behind the houses where I live. One side leads to a pond I like to visit, and the other leads to a bridge over a vast expanse of marshes and beyond, usually visited by foxes, deers, owls, and other interesting characters. I decided on the pond... I had a lot on my mind - mostly good things - and when I came to the bench I usually sit on, I noticed the pond was empty. None of my duck or geese friends were about. I was a little disappointed. As I was sitting down, I noticed a small "post it" note that had been affixed onto the bench. The simple statement was meant for me. I know I was supposed to come down to read it: "Never let a stumble on the road, be the end of the journey." I smiled. Of course I thought it was meant for me. But it was really meant for...

"You never step into the same river twice." ~ Heraclitus Nothing is ever the same. Everything changes. This river, that I have visited - at times nearly every day - over the space of a decade, is not the same. But then neither am I. I came to this river, suggested as a meeting place by a friend during a time of neediness and great pain and impending transitions. I came back, many a morning, feeling alone, having hit rock bottom, in the throws of deep depression, to do a rosary of spiritual practices: Lovingkindness meditations, Reiki chants, actual rosaries, prayers both traditional and spontaneous, the offering of blessings, and whatever else arose from the depths of my soul. For several years I came, almost daily. One morning, while sitting on a boulder by the riverbank, the river beckoned me to come inside. And so I did. I bought a kayak without even thinking about it, and spent a few years paddling upstream - repeating mantras, reciting prayers, while receiving...

There are times in life we travel alone. And there are times we follow in another's footsteps - or someone follows in ours... Years ago, while I was in my twenties, I visited a contemplative community for a silent retreat in their cloistered monastery. I came armed with a few spiritual texts and blended into the rhythm of the nuns' lives, participating in as much as was possible - most especially in the chanting of the Liturgy of the Hours - which I found both daunting and a satisfying rich and spiritual feast! I was housed in the novitiate wing, by then empty, in a cell where Mother Teresa of Calcutta had spent the night once, as she passed through town. I was told by the nuns that the next day, they were amazed to find that the room had been left untouched. She had not slept in the bed - and had either slept on the floor or prayed all night. The only thing she asked for had been a bucket of water. I felt the energy of Mother Teresa's presence deep into the silent ni...

Sometimes our lives take unexpected turns... We might undertake an unforeseen journey... Today, on this first day of April, spring seems to be finally in the air. A week ago today, we had so much snow on the ground, we received the gift of an unexpected picture-perfect postcard moment. Significant snow had eluded us all winter and I had given up the hope to take in such a beautiful scene. But today is entirely different. It's been sunny for the most part and definitely much warmer than it was just seven days ago... Today is also Monday of the Easter Season, and for those who followed my entries of the last few days, you already know that Holy Week took on a special meaning and sacredness this year. I wrote to a friend yesterday that this journey was entirely unexpected for me. I did not set out to be moved so profoundly and did not intend to fully immerse myself in the week. And yet, I was led to do so... I wrote to another friend today that life doesn't always follow t...