a necessary sabbath

4.02.2020


What a strange reality we are living.  How are you doing?  I've been at a loss for words here - these pictures are almost two weeks old now.  I know we are all doing the best we can in these uncertain times, and I know circumstances are much harder for some than others.  My heart goes out to those suffering in more ways than I can imagine.  I hope we can all give each other, as well as ourselves, grace.   

Instead of talking about the darkness in the world right now, a link I found helpful yesterday:  

Jack Kornfield:  The Bodhisattva Response to Coronavirus

Also, some thoughts, most of which I feel pertain to this time, from a book I found inspiring recently:  Sabbath by Wayne Muller:

"For thirty minutes walk slowly and silently, preferably outside in nature, but it can also be done indoors - without trying to get anywhere.  It is more of an amble, a stroll.  Let your senses guide."  

"Something will have gone out of us as a people if we ever let the remaining wilderness be destroyed; if we permit the last virgin forests to be turned into comic books and plastic cigarette cases; if we drive the few remaining members of the wild species into zoos or to extinction; if we pollute the last clean air and dirty the last clean streams and push our paved roads through the last of the silence ... And so that never again can we have the chance to see ourselves ... part of the environment of trees and rocks and soil, brother to the other animals, part of the natural world and competent to belong in it.  We simply need that wild country available to us, even if we never do more than drive to its edge and look in.  For it can be a means of reassuring ourselves of our sanity as creatures, a part of the geography of hope." 

"Lectio divina, or contemplative reading, is an ancient practice common to most religions.  It begins with reading a short passage of scripture or other inspirational writing, and then quietly reflecting upon it - not analyzing or trying to figure out the meaning - but rather allowing it to quietly work on you, as leaven in the bread, as water on a stone.  The key is to read slowly, chew over the words, and allow them to quietly nourish and heal you."  

"Where had these new herbs and grasses come from?  They appeared from within the earth of this field, seeds that had always been embedded in the soil.  Because they had always been trodden underfoot by the relentless activity of the cows, they were never able to grow into their fullness.  When the land and the seed were given a necessary Sabbath, the earth could then, in its own time, reveal the breathtaking wonders of which it was naturally and easily capable."

I found so much good in this book that I wanted to remember, I started keeping a journal of favorite passages.   

Much love.  
by mlekoshi