I love the paradox of stillness and movement in this video and in life in general.
And for some reason I find it fascinating how the waves never come up exactly the same distance onto the shore. There is a sense of endless variety and unpredictability about it, even when it’s quite a calm day.
And a little further out the waves look like folded cloth: https://youtu.be/1KaARQxBStY
Constant movement and stillness. Everybody’s going somewhere all the time. (This was taken near the station in the city.) Rushing like the water onto the next thing. I’m currently in Covid isolation though, which is making me appreciate the stillness the stepping aside from any rush at all.
A moment of moving. And of stilling…
I recently re-read a poem about prayer that I have come to really love, and a new line struck me; « this isn’t / a contest but the doorway / into thanks » Suddenly I felt a weight lifted as I read that. I realised that so much of the time, conversations, meetings, even prayers feel like a contest to see who will get in first with the wisest comment or prayer. But prayer is not a contest. What’s the point in competing when God knows every hair on all of our heads, and knows what we will say and what is real for us before we even begin to know it ourselves?
…And if prayer is not a contest, most other things needn’t be either, I think. What if every encounter we have became a doorway into thanks for us…? And into a world of possibility and love…? What if we could carry with us, wherever we go, a silence in which another voice might speak…?
Julian of Norwich famously wrote « All shall be well, all shall be well and all manner of things shall be well. » Here’s a beautiful musical tribute to that, referring to the force of love I mentioned in my previous post. It’s good to watch the sea and let these words wash over me:
One minute to be still and breathe. A good minute: https://youtu.be/8pPr8HPwJYA
I’m using this YouTube channel to share moments of contemplation like this. If you enjoy them, do like, share, subscribe to the channel so they make their way to more people who just need a moment to be still and to open their eyes and ears to what is a gift around them. 🎁
There are some things that give time back to me
And others that steal it away,
Like a thief in the night.
My friend’s hospital appointments with all the -ologists,
Stealing the life they are so carefully trying to save.
My latest contract for work that I don’t really believe in,
Which I’m doing to put bread on the table.
I have the impression that these things are robbing us of life?
I strike a match
The candle is lit
We let the silence fall.
Disturbed waters still.
I hear a bird sing in the distance,
Breathe in the delicate aroma of my tea,
Hands warmed by the mug.
My shoulders drop, burden loosening;
Nous sommes arrivés
We have arrived;
Brought back to ourselves
Here there is life, healing, peace.
Here, the present that was always ours to live is ours once again.
la perle 