This morning I walked in the rain
Of summer’s leaves now turned brown
Released from the branches arching over me by the cool fall breeze.
Racing downward and foward through the morning sun.
Brushing against me and littering my path.
Glorious.
Be Incarnation. Practice Resurrection.
This morning Facebook reminded me that I wrote this 10 years ago.
Worth sharing again today.
There is no way.
You make it by walking.
So, as you continue your journey…
Know your history.
Honor tradition.
But always…
Always…
Lean in the direction of tomorrow;
For that which we know and name as God is more than history and larger than tradition;
And always just beyond what we can name or know.
And, resist platitudes;
And easy answers to challenging questions.
Trust in God who is always understood better as a verb than as a noun.
And, follow Jesus as he plunges into the crowd hungry for bread and for so much more.
Pray deeply.
Dream boldly.
Hold fast to hope.
Do what you can to bend the long arc of history in the direction of God’s Kingdom come.
And, each day…
Be incarnation.
And practice resurrection.
Fall
I went for a walk today
On my favorite dirt road
Following the mountain stream
As it made its way down
From here to there
Eventually to the ocean.
I walked under a canopy of yellow and gold.
Maple trees
And Beech
Showing off their fall colors.
Every once in a while the wind would blow
And the leaves I had been admiring above me a moment before
Would suddenly be dancing around me
Bringing their beauty close enough to touch.
I am deeply aware
Of what a privilege it is
To walk in peace
And to be surrounded by unspeakable beauty.
Pilgrim, There Is No Way
I am surrounded by reminders.
The family pictures.
The stone I picked up on a hike in the mountains.
The stuffed moose my mother gave me.
The Native American story telling woman statue I bought for my wife.
The loon I carved when I was first learning to work with wood.
The books I read and got lost in only to come out the other end different than when I started.
The china bowl that once belonged to my great-grandmother.
The card my Valentine gave me yesterday.
Each and all a reminder.
A link to who and where I have been.
But what about today?
And tomorrow?
What about where I am going?
And who I want and might be?
The seeds lie in the memories which surround me.
But the answers…
The real answers…
Are hidden in the mystery before me.
Which is exciting
And unsettling.
And sometimes scary.
Pilgrim, there is no way. You make it by walking.
Privilege
Today I sat and looked out the window.
Just sat.
Just looked.
At the snow.
At nothing.
Allowing my mind to wander where it wanted.
Then I walked the dog.
Not necessarily because the dog needed to be walked,
But because I wanted to walk.
To be outside.
To feel the sun.
And the breeze.
I stopped for a while and talked with a neighbor.
A little later in the day the dog and I went for a walk again.
Then I read a book.
Sometimes with the dog sitting on my lap.
Dozing every so often between pages.
Then it was time for dinner.
Why I Walk in the Woods
I subscribe to Unfolding Light, a daily prayer/meditation written by the Rev. Steve Garnaas-Holmes. What he wrote this morning resonated deeply with me. It wraps words around why I walk in the woods and why I need to walk in the woods. I thought I would share it with you.
When I walk in woods
I go not to get somewhere,
not to ponder, not to think.
I go there to be there.
I look and see what I see.
I hear what I hear.
I enter. I notice.
And I am allowed.
I am no stranger here
or even in strange places.
They know me.
I am of this same earth,
fashioned of the same soil.
They do not judge.
They offer their being
as if speaking.
I let them bless me.
For the rest of the day
they breathe in me.
Their colors, their songs
ooze from me all day.
I am always still there.
