Wake Up Calls

A friend of mine was working in her garden yesterday, doing a bit of pruning, and fell off the ladder, conking her head pretty soundly and fracturing her tibia. A rather inglorious end to a lovely day in her yard. She called me from the emergency room, and I began doing affirmative prayer work for her, which I have continued, as today she had surgery to repair and set the leg.

What has come to me is how easily we forget to be grateful for those tiny conveniences that life affords us, while we think we have little for which to be grateful. I turned my ankle a few years back, and climbing the steps to the Post Office without pain became something to be sought. It is not the big things in life that bring us delight. It is those truly simple pleasures that we forget until they are gone. As Thich Nhat Hanh has said, we don't think to be grateful for the "non-tooth-ache."

So today, I am grateful for:
Being able to breathe easily, without artificial assistance
Walking, climbing stairs, dancing, moving without pain
A roof over my head and utilities to heat and cool it
Green grass, blue skies, flowers, trees and squirrels
Fresh clean water to drink with the simple movement of a handle
Transportation that gets me safely to and from my destination
All the places in my body that do not ache and are not in discomfort
The ability and freedom to get up and go to the bathroom on my own
Eyes that see - and the ability to read books, and the glasses to help me do so
Ears that hear music and friends' voices and loud noises and whispers
Chairs to sit in and floors to lay on when I feel like it
Lights that allow me to sit up at night after the sun goes down
A computer with internet that works
And ten thousand things which cannot be named, but matter the moment I lose them and realize I have taken them for granted.
I wish for myself the wisdom to see the grace-filled moments that comprise my day, my life. I wish this for all of us, the world over. Erika Luckett has written a beautiful song, one of the lines of which is "If you're not in awe, you're not paying attention." Let us pay attention to the gifts which surround us every moment of every day.


x

Perfection?

"We are rare, not perfect."

So says Mark Nepo in his Book of Awakenings. I look at that idea and wonder. I know that, as Spirit, what I am IS perfect, whole and complete. There is nothing to heal or fix at the level of the Absolute... And yet, as the singular, human consciousness that is Linda, I exhaust myself in striving for perfection in myself and those around me.

Can I simply revel in my unique qualities as one in the Whole that is All? Can I understand that my rare and singular piece of the puzzle is designed to be what it is - perfect in its apparent flaws?

So much time spent fixing, when what wants to happen is simple living and turning to Truth as often and freely as I possibly can. I puzzle and I walk the tightrope called a conscious life. I recall the line from scriptures... "Lord, I believe. Help me with my unbelief."

Always, I remind myself to live in the questions. That's the only way to discover my self.

(I find that anything by Mark Nepo is worth reading - several times. His website: www.marknepo.com)

Not-so-Sweet Seductions

Seems that lately I am being more and more seduced by the world of effects - of current appearances. With the elections, the economy, the constant level of fear being promoted by the media and government, it is a challenge to stay the course on the high road of love.


I find myself wanting to respond in anger - even though what I know to be the Truth is that anger is simply a permutation of fear. .. and fear is a belief in the absence of love.
So it is a circle that I am following. Like the gerbil on the wheel, no matter how fast I run, I will stay in the same spot. I will continue to feel frustrated and angry as long as I allow my thoughts to be seduced by fear.


I am tired of Chicken Little running around screaming "the sky is falling" and I am tired of joining in the tirade so easily myself!


So maybe I let go of the circle and enter a spiral - going deeper or going higher; either way I remove myself from the endless wheel of fear and enter a new way of perceiving things.


If the Infinite truly is ALL there is - if God really is the Source of all things - and I do believe that; then finding a way to see the good even in what looks like bad to me is the only way out.


Namaste consciousness. That which is Divine in me recognizes and salutes that which is Divine in you. When we see the blessedness in one another, we raise the level of the playing field. We create a whole new game!