Stranded on the Mainland: Inner Pilgrimage and Living Alone as a Spiritual Path:

There are many reasons to sob today: Wars, fear of losing loved ones, losing loved ones, climate change, hunger, pain, illness, abuse of power, crime, poverty, racism, politics. I could go on. Then one day, a couple of weeks ago, I'm on the bus. It's like a relay-race torch gets passed from 'all the darkness' in the world to an overwhelming love for everyone-on-the-bus. I'm having an experience like Merton's Fourth and Walnut Experience ( thomas_merton_fourth_and_ walnut.pdf ). Breathe. Here's the experience: I live in a very diverse neighbourhood: Yesterday I was on the bus-- on my way to get some groceries for the weekend. I had to hold myself back from sobbing-- from years of grief and new joy pouring out. I was standing beside a very old Muslim woman... around my mother's age. She was dressed all in black with a veil, not unlike some old nuns I've known. She was rubbing her knee with her hand and I could tell by her face that it hurt. I tried to ...

Seeing Through the Eyes of Love: Weekly Summary — Center for Action and Contemplation .  "Why do we love each other? The best love tastes of "without a why."  I wrote the poem below inspired by today's CAC Daily Meditations and Meister Eckhart. So too is it the poetic intention for my year-long course on  Engaged Contemplation--  which officially opens today at midnight. Here's the poem inspired by today's CAC Daily Meditation, Meister Eckhart, and Elizabeth Barrett Browning's Sonnet 43: How do I love thee-- let me forget the why's. How do I dismiss,  judge, miss you? Let me forget, this-- too. How do I love you-- to the depth and breadth and height  my  soul can't  reach? Cb Amen image:unsplash

The timing of God continues to surprise me. For example: this spring I planted Chinese forget-me-not seeds on my balcony-- I got green leaves, but no flowers bloomed. So with Fall on the doorstep, I think about not watering them anymore-- but I can't do it. I keep watering. Then on Monday (the Memorial of Our Lady of Sorrows) to my astonishment I see pink buds on one tall green stem. On Tuesday I see MORE buds on more stems. Overnight everything has changed. Buds are blooming. The gorgeous blossoms smell like sunscreen. And yes, it's true, these plants will die, but I've learned forget-me-nots are self-seeding and should bloom again next Spring. Amazing. I think of my young friend Gabbie in heaven. I think of a kid's song I heard being taught in church (on-line) last Sunday: He's got the whole world in his hands! The grief, the love, the past, present, future and flowers too! Next, I wonder this: If forget-me-not flowers can bloom in poor soil and poor conditions on...

Between Emily Dickinson's Amherst and my own-- I refill my holy water bottle light a candle say a prayer, and set out to return-- But not necessarily in that order! Cb Amen The Work of Poets in the 21st Century? | Q&A #3 : SHINE JESUS SHINE!