Last night

the rain

spoke to me

slowly, saying,

what joy

to come falling

out of the brisk cloud,

to be happy again

in a new way

on the earth!

That’s what it said

as it dropped,

smelling of iron,

and vanished

like a dream of the ocean

into the branches

and the grass below.

Then it was over.

The sky cleared.

I was standing

under a tree.

The tree was a tree

with happy leaves,

and I was myself,

and there were stars in the sky

that were also themselves

at the moment

at which moment

my right hand

was holding my left hand

which was holding the tree

which was filled with stars

and the soft rain –

imagine! imagine!

the long and wondrous journeys

still to be ours.

….Mary Oliver

in remembrance of Mom……it was so cold last year when she died…..and here we are again….so cold…….and so it is in these cycles of holding and letting go…..

Witnessing the transformation of the dying process with any degree of receptivity, participating as a fellow human being enters deeply into grace, is unforgettable and inexpressible. With such grandeur, such solemnity, and awesome revelation, we open to new levels of being. Looking at ourselves at this point in evolution, we see the opportunity to move into a deeper apprehension of the nature of reality. Life itself is calling us. Life itself wants to reveal to us the precious, vast, ceaseless, ever present nature of Spirit. Life is welcoming the contraction we call our self to relax. Grace is the common thread linking dying, contemplative practice, and spiritual growth. May we undertake the contemplative practices that will nurture our deeper and more inclusive consciousness in the midst of our lives rather than at its edge, and allow ourselves to be offerings of love and hope for those who live contracted in suffering………Kathleen Dowling Singh

where love is

Enlightenment for a wave is the moment

the wave realizes that it is water.

At that moment,

all fear of death disappears.

….Thich Nhat Hanh