A cross. Hands bare naked on cracked dry earth or in mud, water, atop mossy rocks or sandy ones. Crossing oneself. Prostrations. Bowing head low to
fuse contact with ground. Upright again at the bell’s demand. Uttered low under breath or recited in unison, prayers. A cappella or with organ, trumpets, violin, flute or handbells. Candles in meaningful numbers.
A spiral. Hands together fingers pointed upward – a supplication
or a blessing of gratitude or a beseeching. Artwork and altars to honor and
sanctify the brutally murdered ones. The deliberate slow inscribing of words
onto tablet. Candles aflame. Incense burning. A tree the symbol, or ten
thousand identical images encased in wooden cages with a glass front panel. The
long meditation in a foreign tongue: part song, part mantra, part poem, part
syllable, part winding-historical-wellworn-path-from-the-ancients.
Simple icons carved, of wood. Or gilded. Or brightly paned
in windows high overhead. A triangle enclosed, enclosing. Steps up or down or
through. Heart.hearth.haven. A sermon, litany, overt silence, chanting.
Discussion.brainstorm how to grow tenderheartedness – inner and outer. Laughing,
smiles, a hug, caress, headnod, honoring the moment in all its frail
unpredictability - the universal language bridging life and transition to death.
The. Golden. Rule.
The Common Threads:
Faith.
Community.
Devotion.
Spiritual
engagement.
No matter:
the geometric shape, the location or sacraments;
whether wind, fire, water or earth;
standing, sitting in postures, lying, kneeling, hands open
or closed upraised or clasped, walking or painting;
words or no words, musicbymouthorinstrument or
birdsinginghumanssilent;
vibrant or nearing the body’s shutdown;
vibrant or nearing the body’s shutdown;
in a meeting room or sanctuary synagogue temple church
forest hall mosque shrine wilderness cathedral tabernacle house-of-prayer pews
or benches or pads-for-knees or cushions-for-bottom:
A striving toward being, and being-toward, compassion.
All blog images created &/or photographed by Jennifer J. Wilhoit unless otherwise noted. Please circulate images with photo credit: "©2014 JenniferJWilhoit/TEALarbor stories. AllRightsReserved."
