The solid nature of love

This morning early, as I was quietly beginning the day, I heard the thought "love never dies" in my head, and I was curious about it. I know that the world shows us otherwise, with conflict and breakups and people sometimes doing less-than-honorable things to each other. But as I made my bed, I thought about the people I have loved and have been loved by--some continue in my life, and some do not. I thought of my dad (the second anniversary of his death is next Monday), and realized that even though I still miss him, the feeling of love is still there inside--stronger than ever, really--real and solid.

I invite you to take a few quiet moments today to reflect on people, experiences, places, and ideas you have truly loved. Sense where that love for them is in your body, explore it in your being. Find it and know it's there. Maybe you will discover, like I did, that the love truly does remain, whether the recipient of your love is in your daily life right now or not...love is real, love is solid, love grows and remains forever. Like a collection of beautiful pearls--or an indescribably exquisite castle--love builds within us and around us always, never diminishing, never fading.

What a nice thing to know!

This is the day

...when anything and everything is possible. I feel it. What is that loving desire, that baby of an intention, that is taking shape in your heart just now? Turn and open your eyes wide, beloved, and let the image arise...feel it glow and shine within you...and at just the right moment, filled with gratitude, plant it in the soil of your life, knowing that it is for this moment you have come, the dream is yours to realize, and all of creation--this one Great Soul we share--is waiting for it to blossom.

The blessing is so big there's nothing you can say but "Thanks," whispered, with awe.

I am grateful to the earth

by Pablo Neruda, from the poem This Is Where We Live*

I am grateful to the earth
for having waited
for me
when sky and sea came together
like two lips touching;
for that's no small thing, no?--
to have lived
through one solitude to arrive at another,
to feel oneself many things and recover wholeness.

I love all the things there are,
and of all fires
love is the only inexhaustible one;
and that's why I go from life to life,
from guitar to guitar,
and I have no fear
of light or shade,
and almost being earth myself,
I spoon away at infinity.

Perfect, perfect, perfect.

* Stavans, Ilan, ed. 2003. The Poetry of Pablo Neruda, 480-481, NY: Farrar, Straus & Giroux.

It's not a secret

Grace is the deepest reality.

The point at which all things meet

A big little thought this morning: Today is a coming together of all roads within your very own soul. All people you have ever known or been, all places you have ever visited or lived or thought about, all experiences you have had and have yet to have, come together in you in perfect harmony. All deeds, acts, smiles, hopes, fears, relationships, experiences, dreams, joys, and sorrows are the unique imprint your soul has made, is making, and will make upon this earth and all beings who are part of this One Soul.

Love your story today, and feel the richness you bring to this very moment. You are the point at which all things meet, and that reality, true for each and all of us, can only bless forever.

The task today

Our task today, I think, is

To load paper in the printer,
straight and uniform,
having tap-tapped it into a perfect white rectangle,
almost feeling the coolness of the gray, two-toned plastic
against the side of our hand
half-see the gleam of the green ready light
silently sipping its juice.
More than half-asleep, we are
lulled by the clocks and rhythms
of modern existence
when suddenly--
shockingly
and with no hope of return
a gust of wind from the forest of Borneo
leaps from the pages
we are lifted into the sway of the trees,
enfolded in a symphony of leaves,
inhaled into the fresh, moist, loamy earth.
We rise rise rise above the canopy to azure blue skies
we eagerly lean toward mountains, the earth's exposed roots
and awake joyfully to the memory
full of moonlight, knowing
that we once were and are
and forever more shall be
free.

Happy anniversary

Good morning, dear. In my heart this morning I overheard the angelic choir singing praises about your recent accomplishment... congratulations! Remember to take the moments you need to really celebrate your anniversary today. What, you don't remember? Today is the anniversary of the day you smelled your first flower. On this day, many years ago, you really, really felt the rain on your face for the first time. One time, decades ago, on this day, you smiled at someone not because they deserved it, but simply because they existed, because they were there, and because you are made of love.

On this day just out of reach in your memory, you did just the right thing for a person you barely knew, and that changed the whole trajectory of their path. They are happy today in love and life because of you and your unaware act. On this day Buddha smiled, Christ gave him a high five, and Lao Tzu sat under the cork tree, nodding. Everywhere you go today, dear, watch for the celebration in your wake. Trees come alive, flowers blossom, people smile, all because of you.

Dissolving separation

I received this small prayer in an e-mail newsletter this morning and it struck me how the prayer continues to reinforce the idea of separation--that God is great and "out there" and we are small and unworthy. I understand that the foundations of many traditions are in different ways based on this idea, but there are other ways (more helpful, nourishing, loving ways I think) of understanding the Divine that do not require a one-up, one-down mentality. The greatness of Universal Love and Light, the essence of all being, the love that loves you, expresses through you in beautiful, colorful, and varied ways, the unlimited creativity, freedom, and choices in your day. Through you, the Divine blesses, plans, works, laughs, cries. Through you, in you, and with you, more light comes into the world. Through you and with you--and in the world of your creating, because of you--God smiles and loves and laughs.

Here is how I would revise this prayer, from a perspective that does not separate, but joins. I am sure Divine Love receives both poems with great love, but listen to how one prayer lifts the person praying, while the other reinforces the idea of separation from God (which hurts...and isn't real):

You Give Me Strength / You Are Our Source

Anonymous author

Lord God, thank You for loving me / Lord God, thank you for loving us
Even when I turn away from You. / Your love shines through us in every moment, blessing each and all
I am grateful for Your constant care and concern. / So close we are One, we gratefully and freely share your life and love with all beings
Though I feel unworthy of Your great love, / Happy and at peace knowing we express your joy
I thank You that through my weakness / We give thanks that whether we see your greatness in our lives or not, it is there...
You give me strength, / You are our source, our all
And in my wandering You show me the way. / And in this eternal moment, we rest, love, create, and abide in you.

Amen and amen. Blessings on your day, bringing light, love, and joy into the world.