Stability

The fog is thick and unmoving this morning.  The sun never came out yesterday, as hoped.  Instead, the gloom of June rested on the coast throughout the day.  The morning feels cool at 53 degrees fahrenheit.  Nice.  Today is Monday.

A friend once asked, "What could you possibly have to say every morning?"  It was a gesture of humor and genuine curiosity.  And the reply was honest, "I don't know!  I just have to see what comes.".  The way the writing starts is usually with a word and the word that comes depends on what happens in the quiet; or, what chooses me from the bowl of words by the door; or, what might come from a conversation or experience.

This morning, the word that came from the bowl was 'stability'.  What does that mean in today's world and in the midst of all that enters your awareness?  

The image that comes to mind is of a mountain - standing tall, creating the horizon between heaven and earth.  And then, arises the realization that everything is in constant change on that mountain.  In fact, a mountain is filled with constant instability that can be found at every level, from the large visible falling of rocks, branches off trees - to the microscopic decomposition of plants and animals living with the mountain.  

Perhaps the idea and the word itself fills a need that human beings have to know that there is a point of balance and steadiness in the midst of life's commotion in today's world.  It is represents a way to live with an ideal that is needed in a time when multiple collisions between human existence and other forms of life on the planet are taking place. Worries about new forms of intelligence, and the implications of the developments that come with a well-intended search for expanding human capacities creates for some, a belief that once again, we will not live up to our highest and best aspirations.  Concerns about the role of human beings in the future is real - what would our collective purpose be if all tasks and thoughts were auto-generated?

Then, there is that which stays at the edges of awareness - that which says that even in the change that might bring instability, one can find something that remains unmoved, solid about our existence as human beings.  The qualities that come with wisdom, love, and staying steady among conditions constantly shifting - can even bring a sense of joy into the moment.

One commentary about stability was that the key is in mastering the ability to remain calm, even as the chaos envelopes you.  This seemed like a familiar instruction from another place and time - but hard to remember, from where it came.  Calm in the midst of chaos.

True, there is something about knowing that the disturbances will pass at some point.  So, finding a way to see the impermanence until that passage happens, may allow one to experience  the meaning of "stability.".  Perhaps this is so.  This word has created a tension - perhaps because it is one that represents the opposite of where the world is today.  Perhaps.