While it’s not a revelation to say it, the acknowledgement seems practically unavoidable…There is much suffering in this world, at this moment.  On the one hand, ’twas ever thus; and yet, and still…somehow it seems that I have a greater awareness of it right now–as though this truth is riding the hands of time rather than living somewhere buried in the space in-between…  People I know and care for have had relatives die recently; friends have received desperate diagnoses; others are in hospice; others are struggling at work; I am aware of institutions and organizations changing; the climate changing; and age changing both relatives and the woman I behold over the sink in the mornings and catch sight of in shadows upon the sidewalk and storefront glass.

What to do with this…Where to hold it so as to honour its truth and the implications of it as well as having a view to a greater whole that encompasses a fullness beyond my imagining…. Sometimes I find that space in a car…on a drive…with room to think…and honestly, to crank  up the music in a concert hall for one.  The music itself can change… ranging from classical to choral music to Folk to Gospel to Rock to something in between.   

I also find space within poetry…within my own creations and within the lines of others.   The spareness, sound, and syllables, the process of writing…these welcome me…saying ‘Bring All and rest with it here.’

The italicized bits below are two places I’ve gone recently…The first from Wendell Berry is the email signature of someone who stays at the Spirituality Centre on occasion.  The second is a gift from a friend who sent me music after a conversation we shared.  Classic and Rock.  The pairing pleases me.  And it opens up the middle…some of the recent moments of love that carry me forth; moments I hope we all have and can notice when we find our spaces to rest with the fullness of what is borne in heart; moments that carry us deeper; carry us into…the real and the true of what lies ahead…which will no doubt hold more of the All that is ultimately held within God, within permeating, steadying, strengthening, softening, opening, widening, Love.

I know that I have life
only in so far as I have love.
I have no love
except it come from Thee.
Help me, please, to carry
this candle against the wind.

—Wendell Berry—

A stained glass fly-by, breaking through my concentration with a bluejay’s squawk; the depth of an alto singing her soul; the soft knowing of a friend; sunlit tulips in a display of pride, all colour and petal and shadow against petal and bowls full of light; a walk within The Gardens’ embrace, a caring for self; a book on the shelf that was waiting for me until now, just now;  a barista saying ‘One flat white and Wow, do you have great hair!’; a candle in a broken bowl holder that is absolutely ideal; sacred space and holy stories, shared; a photo of a friend’s son, a nephew by choice, snuggled with the dog; young eagles; blue skies; wind dried hair; a new recipe; a to-do list checked off just before the end of the day.

But you remind me that it’s such a wonderful thing to love
It’s such a wonderful thing to love
It’s such a wonderful thing to love
It’s such a wonderful thing to love
It’s such a wonderful thing
It’s such a wonderful thing to love
It’s such a wonderful thing to love
It’s such a wonderful thing to love
It’s such a wonderful thing

—Florence and the Machine—