The key phrase is ‘But here I am now.’ The realization that nature keeps us in the eternal now is echoed in an interesting interpretation of Jesus’ term ‘kingdom of God’ by Stephen Mitchell, a poet who has prepared new translations of biblical texts. He writes: ‘Jesus was talking about a state of being, a way of living at ease among the joys and sorrows of our world. It is possible, he said, to be as simple and beautiful as the birds of the sky or the lilies of the field, who are always within the eternal now.’ The Japanese haiku form is perfectly suited to showcase this kind of presence. It focuses on one image but from it arises a multitude of associations…..Frederic & Mary Ann Brussat

consider the incredible improbability of being here…..maybe turning water into wine is as difficult as sitting quietly….go back to the forest, go back to the sea….settle in please….bring back hope…..and beauty…..

The spring sea rising

and falling, rising

and falling all day.

….Buson

Summer night-

even the stars

are whispering to each other.

….Issa

find it, feel it, be it….

Seed. There are so many beginnings. In Japan, I recall, there were wildflowers that grew in the far, cool region of mountains. The bricks of Hiroshima, down below, were formed of clay from these mountains, and so the walls of houses and shops held the dormant trumpet flower seeds. But after one group of humans killed another with the explosive power of life’s smallest elements split wide apart, the mountain flowers began to grow. Out of destruction and bomb heat and the falling of walls, the seeds opened up and grew. What a horrible beauty, the world going its own way, growing without us. But perhaps this, too, speaks of survival, of hope beyond our time……Linda Hogan