Here is my hastily-composed, stream-of-consciousness email
reply to a thread in this ongoing communication:
Yes,
it seems that heartfelt action in tandem with ongoing contemplative practices
ARE what's being called for, called forth. For me, it often takes the form of
getting out of jennifer (note, small "j") and into The World Out
There as it expresses its undeniable interconnection with me. More like me/It
are one and the same. There is no more polarity or separation. How could I
possibly separate my breath, for example, from all that is around me - as it
flows in and out, transformed in the process? Each time I forget that I am
connected and interdependent, I find myself up against a wall, a hard
place...because that is not the flow and ebb of Life...that is, rather,
stuckness. I believe the only way to live in the faith-full and most whole way
that was intended for us is to back away from the walls that keep us confined
and fixed and hard and stone cold rotten and to turn, instead, back to All That
Is...everchanging. Interconnected. Spiritual and profane simultaneously (so
that there is no more "profane" or "sacred"... it is all
one and the same).
The thing that links
meditation and action is the very behavior and idea of interdependence. This has
been coming up for me over and over again in recent weeks. Conflict is about
resistance and separation. Union comes alive when we recognize the myriad ways
in which we all rely upon one another…and this is much broader than humans
relying on humans. I placed my hands upon a glacial erratic in my yard. It felt
strong, immoveable, unchangeable. As I kept my hands there, I could feel the
ways in which I am solid; interdependence with the rock, finding my inner
stability by resting the weight of my arms and hands on the rock’s surface, makes
me solid…or – more accurately - it helps me re-member
my solidity.
In this
burgeoning summer season, how can we begin to work the frayed loose ends of our
stubborn independence back into balance as beings connected to one another and
all living beings? Meditation – sitting quietly. Compassionate action – heartfelt
engagement with others. Somehow these two root us back into kinship with The
World of Beings.
Happy Summer!
All blog photographs taken by Jennifer J. Wilhoit unless otherwise noted.
