The older I get, and more humiliatingly frail, the more open I seem to be toward others no matter how different or comfortable they tend to make me?! Oh not the dark, evil ones, but the quirky, lovable in spite of themselves ones…like me in that regard I hope. }:- a.m. anonemoose monk
I am an old (very old) fan of Kent Nerburn going back to Wolf Not Dog, including the film version. I am also of both Irish and Lakota ancestry…much of my own history is wrapped up in Wolf Not Dog. And here too is the essential, life-giving need for both acknowledgment and forgiveness if any reconciliation and reparation is to happen. Lakota people say, “Mitákuye oyàsin,” which translates to “All are my relatives.”
Why I go on walkabout often in our local urban park. One instance is the foraging of beautuful Western Bluebirds that I often encounter, but there are many more every day.
I have found (now in my 8th decade on the planet) that one must first be quieted before any good can be obtained. The notion of emptiness, kenosis, is the “practice before the practice” for me in this season. The contemplative life calls one to silence and solitude, and in turn to allowing the mind to empty and “drop down” into the “heart”. This idea is common to most good religions and faith traditions, even indigenous vision quests include the emptying…
Service Space is for me, in my mind and heart, a “Universal Christ” community without naming itself at all…and yes, Mr. Rogers would also agree that we are all “perfect imperfection” in Divine LOVE.
Hoofnote: Don’t you just love that the author here is named Emmanuel, which means “God with us.”
We had a resident Pond Turtle for years. Ticky the kids named her. She was always around and kept our snail population in check. The dogs never bothered her and she was happy to let the kids hold her. Every winter she would bury herself beneath an old clubhouse next our majestic Oak (Aidan). When that old clubhouse was torn down years later there was Ticky’s intact shell minus her body. Now that shell is a sacred rattle because of course all turtles are sacred.
Mitákuye oyàsin, hozho naashadoo, beannacht. [translation: All are my relatives (Lakota), therefore I will walk in harmony/beauty (Diné), blessed to be blessing (Irish).]
As a scientist and man of faith as well, this resonates with my own heart. It is truth that both of my sons, cosmologist and ecologist respectively, embrace as well.
Chelan is delightful in poetry and though a bit young in The Journey nevertheless a budding mystic in her own right. I hope to hear more when she arrives at the place of double her current age.
When we discover the truth that the fullness of life in this world is holding great suffering in and with Greater LOVE, we are on our way to abundance and healing of ourselves, and others too. }:- a.m.
anonemoose monk— a “wounded healer†to quote Henri Nouwen
Jesus of Nazareth would simply say, “Come away with me to a quiet place.†Rumi bids come lie down in a field where it is all too much to talk about. It is ancient wisdom. }:- a.m.
Ah yes, there is the Tibetan monk in me as well. Whenever my wife asks me to get rid of a spider, moth or other critter in our house, I gently take them outside and release them. }:- a.m.
On Dec 3, 2024 Patrick wrote on Embracing Deep Transitions With Wisdom, by Vanessa Andreotti: