Once we lived in nature, in a huge abundant playground. Then we lived on farms. Then in cities, in apartments and offices. Now we live inside little boxes, in computers and cell phones. We live inside small boxes and wonder why we don't feel free.
There was a best selling book called The Purpose Driven Life. I'd like to write one called The Vacation Driven Life.
On vacation, we look around, we explore, we relax and wander, forget our worries, and everything seems beautiful, wonderful, new. Because we notice. We are paying attention.
A certain mystic said if we align our bodies with the seasons, we are wise. Summer begins today. The season of vacation. While it's true that inside this box I have found true friends of the heart, I'm considering taking a holiday from posting and email in order to live in the larger world.
I will return in season, if the season so declares.
Monday, June 21, 2010
Thursday, June 10, 2010
Ordinary Thoughts While Walking
The longer I live the more I realize (make real) my purpose. My purpose is the apprehension of beauty. No more, no less. The rhythm of nature is so slow, so in tune with the beat of the heart, and the sound of breath. I know this when I am walking in the park. I feel the breath of Eden, sustaining. I slow down.
The rhythm of nature is not out of time with the heart of God in full measure, but it is slow compared to the way that mankind has chosen to measure time...the speed at which society goes. True peace is measured in breath. In this moment, there is stillness.
To apprehend means to understand with the senses, to become conscious of, to grasp. When I apprehend beauty, especially through nature, I feel complete.
Thomas Merton said there is a wisdom in becoming content to live ordinary lives. Who wants that? I thought. But as long as we are grasping for some future thing we think will make our life complete, there is disorder and disharmony. Maybe I am, years after I read it, beginning to grasp what he meant.
There is something ordinary, and also extraordinary about a walk in the park.
The rhythm of nature is not out of time with the heart of God in full measure, but it is slow compared to the way that mankind has chosen to measure time...the speed at which society goes. True peace is measured in breath. In this moment, there is stillness.
To apprehend means to understand with the senses, to become conscious of, to grasp. When I apprehend beauty, especially through nature, I feel complete.
Thomas Merton said there is a wisdom in becoming content to live ordinary lives. Who wants that? I thought. But as long as we are grasping for some future thing we think will make our life complete, there is disorder and disharmony. Maybe I am, years after I read it, beginning to grasp what he meant.
There is something ordinary, and also extraordinary about a walk in the park.
Sunday, June 6, 2010
The Meaning of Life
About once a year, one or more of my closest friends will get a call from me in which I say, "I have discovered the meaning of LIFE!" Last year it was simply, "ENJOY LIFE."
This year it was, "THE SECRET OF HAPPINESS IS TO ALLOW ONESELF TO BE HAPPY."
My lovely insights are so true and liberating, and last about a day. Until the inner critic, false self, ego, bad angel, whatever you wish to call it, takes over again in my head to eclipse what is in my heart. Sigh.
The knowledge of evil is what stole Eden from us. The more that we can keep our minds in stillness, and innocence, and the more we focus on the beauty of the earth, rather than the pain of the world, the more we will allow life to bring us enjoyment, happiness and peace.
It's simple. But it's not easy. Could it be that happiness is a spiritual discipline?
This year it was, "THE SECRET OF HAPPINESS IS TO ALLOW ONESELF TO BE HAPPY."
My lovely insights are so true and liberating, and last about a day. Until the inner critic, false self, ego, bad angel, whatever you wish to call it, takes over again in my head to eclipse what is in my heart. Sigh.
The knowledge of evil is what stole Eden from us. The more that we can keep our minds in stillness, and innocence, and the more we focus on the beauty of the earth, rather than the pain of the world, the more we will allow life to bring us enjoyment, happiness and peace.
It's simple. But it's not easy. Could it be that happiness is a spiritual discipline?
Tuesday, June 1, 2010
Perpetual Motion
Wind chimes got me thinking. When I was growing up there was a lot of talk about people trying to invent perpetual motion machines. Maybe they have, now. Or maybe it is impossible, like trying to stop this oil spill. (The wisdom of men is foolishness to God.)
Maybe only God can create perpetual motion. He breathes the universe out...when will he breathe it back in?
It must be very amusing, or at least interesting, to watch all the drama unfolding on these worlds that he created. Is he detached, or intimately involved? (I used to think he watched us like an experiment, like ants.)
One holy book says he sees every sparrow that falls to the ground. Another holy book says there is an angel for every blade of grass.
There is a concept called something like Electro-magnetic-resonance. It says once two particles of matter have interacted, they will continue to be drawn together, perpetually.
Maybe only God can create perpetual motion. He breathes the universe out...when will he breathe it back in?
It must be very amusing, or at least interesting, to watch all the drama unfolding on these worlds that he created. Is he detached, or intimately involved? (I used to think he watched us like an experiment, like ants.)
One holy book says he sees every sparrow that falls to the ground. Another holy book says there is an angel for every blade of grass.
There is a concept called something like Electro-magnetic-resonance. It says once two particles of matter have interacted, they will continue to be drawn together, perpetually.
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