When despair for the world grows in me
and I wake in the night at the least sound
in fear of what my life and my children’s lives may be,
I go and lie down where the wood drake
rests in his beauty on the water, and the great heron feeds.
I come into the peace of wild things
who do not tax their lives with forethought
of grief. I come into the presence of still water.
And I feel above me the day-blind stars
waiting with their light. For a time
I rest in the grace of the world, and am free.
Like many folk I can feel overwhelmed, by the troubles of the world and the troubles of others, those around me, as well as the frustrations with myself, from time to time. When the storms of life are blowing, whether internally or externally, there isa temptation to batten down the hatches. I don’t just mean the winter storms like, Eowyn, but those that can rise up within us, or the horrific barbarity that we can witnessed by our barbarity to one another. I can feel tempted to hibernate and isolate too.
Yes it is healthy to take time alone, infact it is vital, but isolation is never so. Thankfully this feeling never lasts and I find solace and meaning in so many places, this enables me to turn back to world and offer what love and care and bit of cheeky humour I can. In so doing meaning emerges from the suffering and despair is transcended. With apologies to Wendell Berry it is not only the “Peace of Wild Things” that enables me to rest in the Grace of the world and thus feel free. This does help at times, but not alone. What I have discovered, that works for me, is walking in the peace of beloved community, being with loving and decent people and to be both touched and moved by them. It constantly amazes me the people whose path I can cross in a day. So often these encounters turn into blessings seemingly Divine.
I was talking with a friend the other day as our dogs played together. They had had a rough 2024, but it seems that things are on the up for them this year. It was lovely to listen to them with such enthusiasm about the things they are creating and the folk they are meeting. As I left their company I felt held by the grace of the world. I am grateful that I had answered the invitation to go walk our dogs in the park.
Do you ever feel led by a “Power Greater” than yourself? I do, I was the other day. I had decided that Molly and I needed to go to the park. Not John Leigh, but Stamford, which meant walking through Altrincham. There was a break in the weather. Unfortunately it didn’t last long and instead of walking on to the park, Molly directed me into Café Nero. She is only a little dog, but sometimes she is definitely a power greater than myself. She was right by the way. It was what we both needed. I enjoyed a tea and three people came in separately that I know. We chatted about a few things, some serious, some less so, some humourous. I found myself resting in the grace of the world and I once again felt free. It is how I am meant to be.
I have had several fascinating random encounters with people in recent days. They have all come after I have had an encounter that was difficult or troubling, the blessings and curses of “Choosing Life”. After each difficult and troubling encounter, I found myself suddenly changing direction and found myself almost immediately engaged in something delightful or at least humourous. I won’t talk about the delightful ones, but I will tell you about the hilarious one. I was walking through Altrincham when suddenly I heard a loud banging from a window above. I looked up and a head popped out, they cried “Get your hair cut, get your hair cut, get your bleeding hair cut”. Well Molly and I did get our hair cut, although that was already planned for this week. By the way the person shouting at me was someone I knew, not a random stranger. The last week or so has been full of fascinating encounters. I wonder where they might lead.
Life is full of encounters, opportunities and interactions. There are many opportunities that could lead us in all kinds of directions. We never know when we set out each day what the opportunities we face may just lead too.
I wonder how often in life such seeming coincidences occur, how many opportunities or chance encounters come our way, how many doors open that could lead to something incredible and new. I wonder if these opportunities come just once or do they keep on coming again and again in one form or another. I’m not sure if I am honest, although I do know that when I’m truly tuned in they do seem to occur far more often than when I am not. I wonder how many times we have this feeling that we need to do something or go somewhere. I wonder how often we ignore it and how often we answer it’s call. I wonder how many times we have that feeling and ignore it, rationalise it out and turn away from it, only to find the universe present it to us once again. Or perhaps it is all just random chance, just chaos bumping into each other. Who knows for certain? Certainly not I.
We all wander through life, primarily living by the same daily, perhaps weekly patterns. The seasons change but we live by a similar pattern and rhythm and yet as we do so life changes, we change, others change and we have these interesting interactions from time to time. I wonder sometimes if such encounters, however brief, are constantly available to us. How many people do we pass in life and never speak or truly interact with and yet we never know what the interaction might lead to.
Here's a "romantic poem", although I suspect it is making a deeper theological suggestion...
"Love at First Sight" by Wislawa Szymborska
They're both convinced
that a sudden passion joined them.
Such certainty is beautiful,
but uncertainty is more beautiful still.
Since they'd never met before, they're sure
that there'd been nothing between them.
But what's the word from the streets,
staircases, hallways —
perhaps they've passed by each other a
million times?
I want to ask them
if they don't remember —
a moment face to face
in some revolving door?
perhaps a "sorry" muttered in a crowd?
a curt "wrong number" caught in the receiver? —
but I know the answer.
No, they don't remember.
They'd be amazed to hear
that Chance has been toying with them
now for years.
Not quite ready yet
to become their Destiny,
it pushed them close, drove them apart,
it barred their path,
stifling a laugh,
and then leaped aside.
There were signs and signals,
even if they couldn't read them yet.
Perhaps, three years ago
or just last Tuesday
a certain leaf fluttered
from one shoulder to another?
Something was dropped and then picked up.
Who knows, maybe the ball that vanished
into childhood's thicket?
There were doorknobs and doorbells
where one touch had covered another
beforehand.
Suitcases, checked and standing side by side.
One night, perhaps, the same dream,
grown hazy by morning.
Every beginning
is only a sequel, after all,
and the book of events
is always open halfway through.
In “Love at first sight” by Wislawa Szymborska, describes two lovers engaged in a display of public affection. I get the impression that the author is convinced that some guiding force is at work in their interaction. What begins as “Chance”, then becomes “Destiny” which “pushed them close, drove them apart”. The poems suggests that these lives were scripted long ago in a “book of events”, which cannot be altered, try as we might. The poem suggests that the lovers have passed by one another many times before, but were never aware or ready to make that first point of contact. That there were signs along the way and that one day this encounter would happen, but it was more than mere chance, something else was at work offering itself to both of them. It just took this moment for it to happen.
In many ways this is how I see life these days. So many possibilities are going on all around us. Some good, others not so good. So many joys, tragedies, triumphs, failures, frustrations, crises, endless possibilities good and bad. Life offers itself to us, but so often we close ourselves off from it. One thing I have noticed is that as I have allowed life itself to guide me I have become more open I am to life itself and the more connected I felt, the more aware I have become of experiencing meaning and making meaning filled decisions. As I have done so I experienced a greater sense of belonging to myself, those people I share my life with and this world in which we all live and breathe and share our being. It doesn’t stop tragedy and suffering, of course not, it does not protect anyone from the storms of life, it does though keep me turning toward life.
The more I have lived this way the more I have noticed the meaningful coincidences in life. Some say this is how it is meant to be, I am not wholly convinced of this, I prefer to see it as this how it could be if I allow myself to follow the rhythm of life. If I do I notice the so-called coincidences, the synchronicities of life. Not always of course. I like a lot of people I get overwhelmed at times. My sensitivity can be an utter curse and lead me to turn away from life once more. Thankfully this never lasts long. I cannot close the ears of my heart to life for long.
I do believe that life speaks to us, if we are in tune enough to hear it, it speaks in so many ways too. Some say it is the hand of God directing everything, others say it is just pure chance and others call it synchronicity. I am one of those who call it synchronicity. I also refer to it as the “Lure of Divine Love”.
Personally, I do not hold with the view of a God who controls all our interaction, that life is preordained if you like. When I look at our capacity for inhumanity towards one another, I find that impossible to believe. Neither do I hold a deistic understanding, that a Creator started the processes of life but then left life to get on with it. Nor am I an atheist or even agnostic, I sense that there is a Divine presence in life. I have come to believe in the Divine Lure of Love. That the Divine lures life on, that we are co-creators, with all of life in a universal process. I sense this divine presence within me and I experience it in life itself, particularly in creativity or in deeply felt interactions. I have discovered that when I am awake to such things, in life, I experience synchronicity constantly. Life seems to direct me, when I am awake to it. This of course can be deeply painful. Living this way is both a blessing and curse. That said I have found that it is the only way that I can live. There are times though when it all feels too much, I know I am not alone in this.
Now please don’t get me wrong I am not suggesting that I live purely by instinct, by intuition, from my gut. How on earth can I. Intuition alone is not enough, discernment is vital in order to make wise decisions about life.
The word discernment is formed from the Latin word “discernere”, which means to separate, to distinguish, to sort out. Just think of prospectors panning for gold or sifting through the rocks and dirt in search of gem stones. They are separating, they are sorting through the muck for the jewels, they are distinguishing, they are discerning.
Discernment is the key to making wise decisions about life, about what our senses are saying to us. We need to discover what is of value and what needs to be discarded as our minds interpret our senses. We need to discard the dirt and muck to uncover the gold, the gems, to have clarity of thought, so that we can truly follow that Divine spark within each of us. This is not easy, especially when we think of all that information that swims around in our lives and our consciousness; information like an enormous shoal of fish swimming round and round aimlessly in a small tank and not really going anywhere. Our lives, our hearts, our heads are just so full of stuff, our senses are constantly overloaded. I know that mine are, although you might not notice it. How do we discern what is the right response? Well, we need silence; we need time away from all this information and all these things that pull us in so many directions. We need to still our senses from time to time and thus tune into the source of all life. We need time to be still, time to be silent, time to connect to our bodies and our breathing; time to hear that still small voice of calm. A voice less than a whisper, but somehow more than silence.
We need to awaken to our true consciousness in order to make those sane and sensible decisions about life. We need to learn to separate those things that are of value and those that are not. We need to do this in order to hear that voice, that is less than whisper but that is somehow more than silence; that voice that has spoken down the centuries, to those who had ears that could hear it.
The choices we make matter. It matters what we are and what we do. I do not think that God chooses this for us. Yes, God offers guidance, “The Lure of Divine Love” but it is up to us to choose the path that we follow. WE are the creators and destroyers of this our shared world.
So, pay attention my friends. Take time to tune into your deeper selves and the deeper pulse of life, pay attention, trust your own heart but please discern, make wise choices about what life offers to you, for what you do and do not do really matters.
May you have interesting and beautiful encounters and may you trust them enough that you allow them to lead you to ever more beautiful lives.
Below is a video devotion based on the material in this "Blogspot"
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