
Goldfinch perched on the deck railing gazes at the space where the red feeder used to hang. Avian flu sweeps through taking great numbers in wake. We pull back our feeders creating social distance in the flock— all the colors of life greeting us each morning and evening with songs and chatter as we smile and go about our day. Pandemic, war, economic uncertainty, food instability, wildlife illness, all challenging our faith and belief in the world as we know it. All the ways we have accepted the way things are rather than the way things could be. The way we have learned rather than the way of the heart. Three friends at lunch table challenge ourselves to talk about something light and positive. We try. We drift back. As painful as our world is right now we commit to look and feel then turn to where we find hope. Everything changes. Not clinging to the pain but letting it move through. Not holding to our fear but breathing it out. Like the small yellow bird, we sit in the present as a future unfolds. With hearts and minds open we take the seat of consciousness and understanding. We find connection to compassion and love.
“The quest for certainty blocks the search for meaning. Uncertainty is the very condition to impel man to unfold his powers.”
Erich Fromm
“In these times, in these uncertain times, I will remain open to the miracle that is each moment.”
Jacquie Godden
“I find myself in the time between selves.”
Alla Bozarth-Campbell
On Going Resource List
- The Soul of Rumi, Translations by Coleman Barks
- Keep Going by Joseph M. Marshall III
- Arriving at your own Door by Jon Kabat-Zinn
- The Untethered Soul by Michael Singer
- The Hidden Secrets of Water by Paolo Consigli
- Conquest of Mind by Eknath Easwaran
- Color: A Natural History of the Palette by Victoria Finlay
- Peace is Every Step by Thich Nhat Hanh
- I Thought It Was Just Me (But It Isn’t) by Brene Brown
- Practicing Peace in Times of War by Pema Chodron
- When Things Fall Apart by Pema Chodron
- On Death and Dying by Elizabeth Kubler-Ross
- Unattended Sorrow by Stephen Levine
- Joy in Loving, Mother Theresa
- The Joy of Living by Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche
- Let Your LIfe Speak by Parker Palmer
- Zen and the Art of Saving the Planet by Thich Nhat Hanh
- The Essence of the Upanishads by Eknath Easwaran
- Welcoming the Unwelcome by Pema Chodron
- Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer
- Medicine Cards: The Discovery of Power Through The Ways Of Animals by Jamie Sams and David Carson
Thank you Janice
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Thank you! ❤️
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Janis, Well done! I very much like the quote from Erich Fromm. Kate
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Thank you, Kate!❤️🙏
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Beautiful Jan. Love Joe
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Thank you, Joe! 🙏❤️
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