The Light
It is going to be a brighter day, at the moment it is pretty grey. The temperature is 57 degrees fahrenheit. Today is Thursday.
Think about the ways in which the world is connecting. Then think about the ways in which you are connecting to all that is happening. How is the body feeling? What are the thoughts that are being brought into your awareness? How are you balancing all that is happening?
There are so many tragedies and unknowns in this moment and yet, we continue with living and doing the work that is before us with a new appreciation that may be expressed as gratitude, or maybe fear, or maybe disappointment. Whatever the bass-beat in your life may be, remember that the song of life carries certain melodies and phrases that can give fullness in a way that staying with a single note cannot.
While protests over the wars are expanding, so are conversations about what work needs to be done when all the energy dissipates. Planning for the long haul is happening as these words are being written. Engaging with those who already know their lives will be ending soon, is happening right now - with joy. A friend is training for a major bike ride, driving from up north to the southland to be with a woman who has a terminal cancer diagnosis and they are both writing and sharing their experiences. It's incredibly inspiring to learn about the way in which these two old friends are staying in the light of life and facing death with such care and love.
On another front, three seekers are moving across time/space/generations in their spiritual journeys joined as three separate wheels on a tricycle. And the sharing, learning, and deepening of their practices through mutual support and encouragement, humor and curiosity is yet another source of inspiration. The "Tricycle Journals" are being written and shared, capturing things that could easily be forgotten or ignored if one were to decide not to turn toward the light.
As these two small examples illustrate, there is another way to live through the tragedies and the suffering, without surrendering fully to these aspects of our modern dilemma. We continue to search for ways to connect, and ways to bring light to death, humor and love to the endless search for spiritual depth, and creativity to problems that appear intractable. And perhaps, we are able to recognize that there are some problems that humanity will never be able to overcome because our tendency is always to succumb to those four things that will surely bring trouble: fear, doubt, suspicion, and delusion.
Yet, the light comes with the realization that there are other capacities that can be brought into service. Namely, humility, kindness (they say that is love with its work boots on), and a little personal sacrifice. We all have these capacities and yet, in today's world, these essential capacities get lost too often. In fact, these "hidden" powers are waiting to be tapped and one has to wonder, when will the so-called leaders of society see these as sources of strength, not weakness. If only they knew how hard and how demanding it is to bring these qualities forward in human affairs. There can be no darkness without light, and we must not forget this.