There is a mountain that literally is dancing with light. Light is in the rock and the stones because the entire mountain, from the tiny pebbles to the largest boulder, is infused with mica. The light is there in other ways as well. It is visible not only in the earth but in the bubbling water, in the sparks of a fire, even the shimmering briskness of the air.
The mountain also brings stillness; a quiet without any car, with no manmade sounds, only the sound of the wind, the rustling leaves, the journey of the bubbling stream. I sit listening to the joy of the water’s song as it moves over the rocks wondering if it’s part of God’s laughter. The water’s blessing was also apparent as I brought it to my face and eyes. The wind coming through the branches cooled my hot forehead. I was infused with an awareness that we are all part of this whole that contains each of us, all living creatures and those we call inanimate. We are all a fractal of a whole. Beauty, peace, and a sense of connectedness saturated my Self-ness. What is IS. It may take different forms, move from life to life from atom to atom. Love is that energy that connects us. It is all Love. Love is real and immutable. It surrounds and inhabits each and every cell of every thing whether animate like me or inanimate like the mountain.
One of the tasks I had set for myself on this particular journey was to get clear, to reaffirm and stay true, and in tune with my life purpose moving forward. Yet instead of looking forward, memories from the past sparkled in my mind. I was taken to remember the first message I gave in a Friends Meeting. It was in 1962 at the worship group that would become Framingham Friends Meeting. I was 12 years old looking out over a spring garden where fruit and ornamental trees were blooming. It was a 3-word message; simply “God is Love”. Over and over, this simple message repeats in my life. I became aware of how everything synthesizes down to Love. Love is that energy that from the beginning right through to the end moves in a beautiful circle, from, within and to that which is Eternal.
The second full day in the forest, through the stillness I feel a familiar whispered leading. I sensed or heard the call, a desire for usefulness, to be of service. But what can the puny old mind and body do to be of use now? Very strongly it came unto me that love means honing down to basic Truth that we are one, seeing the intense beauty that is everywhere; and that radiating love means feeling and broadcasting gratitude for all that is. It also is to not be so fixated on any particular end goal, that is not my business. I heard that being focused on getting to some future objective, even one as worthy as beloved community, means I can at times forget to appreciate the journey itself. When you fixate on the hole, you miss the sense of being part of the whole, (holey-ness rather than holiness).
In fact, it is the journey that is really what it’s all about. It’s walking through the woods with perspective, not isolating on a fixed screen but instead seeing and appreciating the beauty. It’s feeling full of gratitude for where you are in that time in space. This is true whether the journey is working on racial justice or walking on a path at Mt. Monadnock; whether stepping through the sparkling rocks and bare-bones trees or whether working toward a better world from everyone. It’s about the journey.
It’s about how we get there, what surrounds us moment to moment, and who are the companions walking with us. Do we sense the moment and all present with gratitude? One step follows the next step and paying attention lest I again trip over an unseen root or get stuck in muckiness that sucks off my shoe (or in metaphysical terms, wrenches a piece of my soul). Pay attention to companions both seen and unseen, the chipmunk and the squirrel, the woodpecker, or owl, even the gnat or biting fly or the oak tree still sleeping from its winter nap. They all have worth and stories. Trees can teach a lot. They teach how to bend around objects and still be a beautiful life form. They teach how to grow out of the rotten stumps or rocks into a lovely tree. They teach about there being a time to rest and a time to grow, they teach about the cycle of life.
I was reminded to pay attention to the inner being. Am I walking with a heart and mind full of love or full of anxiety? The Light is all around and true gratitude means letting go of a fullness of sadness, the weight of lost friends, and failure. Perhaps sadness and failure are illusions that mask true reality which is never-ending, unconstrained Love and Light. Such is the case with the sparkliest rock I saw. I took a picture of it but the photograph did not show its reality, it looked like any other nondescript plain rock; no sparkle, no light.
The journey is about sitting by the seen or unseen bubbling stream, hearing the water sing with joy as it flows over the rocks, having the breeze touch us so gently, taking a sip of water and sensing the mystery.
Lightness and Love; the cycle of birth, then growth and productivity, then death. Ultimately, Life is about the journey, walking a path of mystery and being a Being of Love, of healing, of peace of Light.
Rachel Carey-Harper
For another perspective: https://vimeo.com/208145716
For more of my writing on this sort of topic and on racial justice work visit:
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