A PATH OF COURAGE AND BIRDSONG A cancer diagnosis. Loss of livelihood, wealth, power. The unexpected end of a relationship. A broken promise, a shattered dream. Sometimes impermanence smacks us in the face without much warning. It was always there, of course, lurking in the background, we’d just been distracted, or fallen into illusions of permanence, or turned away in fear. Impermanence comes, sometimes out of the blue, to remind us of what is essential and true, to shatter our spiritual laziness and remind us of our true path. A keen awareness of the impermanence of things can protect us from the pain of self-righteousness, arrogance, ignorance, greed – and ultimately, fear itself. Friend, find that which is unchanging in the midst of the ever-changing forms of your life. Find your own presence in the constantly shifting appearances. Find your true home in the midst of uncertainty. Be what you are, the Unchanging principle - That which has never changed as everything else has changed. Know your own beingness, your original sense of belonging, soft and intimate and warm, always here, never missing. You just got distracted, that’s all, became lost in the shiny things, in those intoxicating dreams of past and future, mesmerised by appearances on your way towards future glories promised by undoubtedly well-meaning friends. And then, a cancer diagnosis. Loss of livelihood, wealth, power. The unexpected end of a relationship. A broken promise, a shattered dream. These are not mistakes or punishments but sudden reminders of the sheer Power of the Uncontrollable, the immense Intelligence moving all things, an Intelligence beyond comprehension. Another call to humility and softness. And kindness. And an invitation to remember: in the midst of pain, loss, devastation, failure, what cannot be lost? What cannot fail? Love is still here. The ability to connect deeply. To listen. To see. To feel. To laugh at seriousness. To be serious about laughter. To remember our own Presence, the Presence of life, here and now. And the gift of the small things. A sip of water. The sound of the rain. The breath moving through the nostrils. A visit from a loved one. An unspoken kindness. The beauty of questions unanswered. The essential things cannot be taken away. Everything non-essential will crumble in time. Perspective is everything. The moment is a beginning. This is not a path you will find in books. This is a path of courage and birdsong, of waking in the morning with a tender heart and knowing that everything is somehow profoundly okay in a way you cannot hope to understand. - Jeff Foster
Posted on: Wed, 06 Aug 2014 15:13:41 +0000
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