Sunrise in the Valley
A grateful heart carries the sacred with every step it takes. Live in the gratitude of sacred sight.
I settle in to write at an unusual time today, late morning here in the Sangres, much later than my usual greeting the rising Sun with pen in hand. As dawn began to break, I felt drawn to stillness, a call just ‘be’. In the quiet I deeply felt the happiness of a grateful heart as I gazed into the woods out back. Then, turning my gaze to a cloud bank hanging over the peaks, I watched as it changed form, reflecting the touch of Sun’s first rays.
Those distant rays beckoned, “Come out and play! We’ll soon be shining in your woods out back.” I wondered if I could carry the stillness with me if I rose and journeyed out to put my bare feet in the cool sand.
Move the body. Keep the mind still. A gentle voice nudges me to practice.
I remember that indeed sometimes moving my body stills an overactive mind. Especially when mind wants to have its way like the five-year old crying out for a candy bar in the checkout line with their mom. Not seeking a candy bar, mind simply wants attention for its scattered thoughts reviewing some past event or an imagined future worry or both. Scattered thoughts that like a herd stampeding go nowhere, fast: a downward spiral not so sweet.
Move the body. Keep the mind still. Yes, I can. I will.
Work the herd. Steer the thoughts to the stillness of reflection.
Moving slowly and intentionally into the woods, mind settles allowing the cool ground to be felt from toe to head. I gaze toward the mountains awaiting the first rays that will soon meet me in these woods. Mind and body stilled, I feel the sacred power of the moment. Presence, sacred presence.
I want this for our world: a moment to know the sacred that stirs deep within, a sacred seed longing to sprout and grow; the sacredness of Life as a felt experience.
As I saunter through the woods, I think of those who travel far and wide to visit sacred sites around the world. Then I imagine a world where we know that every step taken is on sacred ground, a world where we each experience our sacred sight.
A grateful heart carries the sacred with every step it takes. Live in the gratitude of sacred sight.
Sungazing Lioness