We imagined [the divine] as distant and inaccessible, whereas in fact we live steeped in its burning layers . . . This palpable world, which we are used to treating with the boredom and disrespect with which we habitually regard places with no sacred association, is a holy place.
Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, The Divine Milieu
The washing never gets done.
The furnace never gets heated.
Books never get read.
Life is never completed.
Life is like a ball which one must continually
catch and hit so that it won’t fall.
When the fence is repaired at one end,
it collapses at the other. The roof leaks,
the kitchen door won’t close,
there are cracks in the foundation,
the torn knees of children’s pants . . .
One can’t keep everything in mind.
The wonder is
that beside all this one can notice
the spring which is so full of everything
continuing in all directions – into evening clouds,
into the redwing’s song and into every
drop of dew on every blade of grass in the meadow,
as far as the eye can see, into the dusk.
Jaan Kaplinski, 1940 – 2021, Estonian poet, philosopher and cultural critic, The wonder is
I do not live happily or comfortably
with the cleverness of our times.
The talk is all about computers,
the news is all about bombs and blood.
This morning, in the fresh field,
I came upon a hidden nest.
It held four warm, speckled eggs.
I touched them.
Then went away softly,
having felt something more wonderful
Than all the electricity of New York City.
Mary Oliver, With Thanks to the Field Sparrow Whose Voice is So Delicate and Humble
Here’s my new favorite meditation: Load up your washing machine, press the buttons, and then sit by the magical cube as it does its magic. When it roars and sloshes, hear the echo of your fear, anger, and despair. When it spins, recognize your own times of confusion, of apparently pointless repetition. When it seems to have finished, only to rev up again, think of the times you’ve had to start over. And realize that all this bashing and crashing is your soul being cleaned, renewed, and made fresh again.
Once you relax into the process, you’ll learn the great secret: It is through doing the laundry that we find our way to the ecstasy.
Martha Beck, Blog, The Turbulent Secrets to Soul Renewal
I have a room all to myself;
it is nature.
Henry David Thoreau
Surrender to the way things want to happen next,
even though this often involves a vast and terrifying loss of control.
Trust the magic that was born into your soul.
Martha Beck
Mindfulbalance 