A Home in the Woods
Some day after mastering the winds, the waves, the tides and gravity, we shall harness the energies of love. And then, for the second time in the history of the world, we will have discovered fire. Pierre Teilhard de Chardin
Stillness. I was called to stillness this week. Quiet. Stillness. Inward. Outward. Expressionless Expression. Thoughtful without thought. Within. Without. Fullness. Emptiness. Rest. Deep Rest. Body rest. Mind rest. Spirit rest. Rest to restore. Rest for reset. Rest for the new. Rest to renew. Stillness. Quiet. Rest.
In quiet stillness, I continued to follow and reflect on the theme each day in the Gandhi King Season for Nonviolence. The themes included self-forgiveness, inspiration, mission, prayer, harmony, friendliness, respect. As in the themes leading to this point each resonated to different parts of my being.
Harmony, my personal ‘favorite’ this week, found me exploring acceptance and tolerance and recognizing just how violent unjust criticism of both self and others is. I saw that each theme is not a goal to reach but a quality, a way of being, to be built from the inside out. Moment to moment. Day to day.
From that insight, inspiration found me wanting to celebrate those moments where I meet what nonviolence asks of me, while self-forgiveness reminded me to be gentle when I fall short.
Somewhere along the way, I saw (in a blinding flash of the obvious) with crystal clarity that LOVE is the essence in all of nonviolence and in the themes offered each day in the Season. Without love, the themes are simply words and any action stemming from them without love is dull, empty, impermanent. On the other hand, with love our words and actions are everlasting, full, and bright. Imagine a world where we each embrace ‘harnessing the energies of love’ as our mission. Imagine yourself and others navigating life with the respect and friendliness that the energy of love commands.
I’m imagining that I’m building my capacity to harness the energy of love and to pour that love into every person, every event I encounter (and, yes, I have a L O N G way to go to meet that high standard of ‘every’). But taking on that as purpose and mission reminds me of the truth that we are all one of the One. We are not separate from Source or from one another. Violence toward another is violence toward self just as love toward another is an expression of self-love.
My prayer for humanity and for our planet is that we ‘let peace be on the earth and let it begin with me’. Give yourself a few moments to allow this beautiful version (click here) to wash over you and to enter your being.
A Snowy Day at the Ziggurat