I don’t know who wrote this … but I’m glad they did:

When we plant a rose seed in the earth, we notice that it is small, but we do not criticize it as “rootless and stemless”.  We treat it as a seed, giving it the water and nourishment required of a seed.  When it first shoots up out of the earth, we don’t condemn it as immature and underdeveloped.  Nor do we criticize the buds for not being open when they appear.  We stand in wonder at the process taking place and give the plant the care it needs at each stage of its development.

The rose is a rose from the time it is a seed to the time it dies.  Within it, at all times, it contains its whole potential.  It seems to be constantly in the process of change.  Yet at each state, at each moment, it is perfectly all right as it is.

What is beautiful?  Only the sixth picture?  No.

What is young?  Only the first three pictures?  No.

What is red?  Only the fourth, fifth and sixth pictures?  No.

And there is one more image to consider, which also encompasses it all:

I see you, whether you’re 10 or 90.  I feel your heart.  I know your yearnings.  I know your sorrows.

For you and I are one in our redness

Usually my Thursday cello lesson consists of two adult students (Anja and Bruce) and one teacher (Lieven).  Occasionally, such as yesterday, a girl joins us.  She’s about 16.  I’ll call her Marie.

I was the first to play.  The girl sat across the way, head down.  When she raised her head, her eyes were heavy …  I sensed great sadness.

I was concentrating on the music but a part of me was being slowly torn apart.  When it was Anja’s turn, I often closed my eyes and prayed for Marie.  I sent her love.  Usually when I do this, it feels like the other person doesn’t know they’re being blessed.  I thought the same about Marie.  And I kept going.

As our lesson completed, Marie and I were leaving at the same time.  Will I say something or not?  Maybe I’ll just let my well-wishing hang silently in the air.

But no … I chose otherwise.

Bruce:  You seemed so sad in there.  (Pause)  Are you religious?

Marie:  Yes.

Bruce:  I prayed for you.

(Marie starts to cry)

Bruce:  May I continue to pray for you?

Marie:  Yes.

(Moist eyes together … saying goodbye)

***

An old lesson takes up residence in my head: Don’t make someone cry.  And now I invite it to leave.

Two fragile human beings

Connecting

From Facebook yesterday, quoting the American writer Ernest Hemingway:

In our darkest moments, we don’t need advice.  What we truly need is presence, someone to sit with us in the shadows, to acknowledge our suffering without trying to fix it.  In those moments, silence and understanding speak louder than words, offering a quiet strength that reminds us we’re not alone.  It’s not solutions we seek, but connection.

And here’s a response from a Spirit named Bob Rufsvold:

So true.  So sad that he did not himself make that connection in his darkest moments.  I would like to not just wonder, but really understand the irony of it.  Perhaps if we truly understood the depths of each other’s suffering, we could be more available to stand in the breach, to be that presence standing in the shadows.  Perhaps we must simply be that presence even when we do not understand, simply knowing that your suffering touches my suffering.  Not advice, but love.  Only love allows us to be truly present.

Well and lovingly said, Ernest and Bob

It’s a word that Patricia Albere, the founder and leader of the Evolutionary Collective, has been using a lot recently.

Intuitively I get it … but I wondered what the dictionary had to say:

This word is now obsolete.  It is only recorded in the Middle English period (1150 – 1500).

Oh.

Let’s try “met”:

The past tense and past participle of meet

Not particularly helpful.

Okay … “meet”:

To arrange or happen to come into the presence of someone

When I think “in the presence of”, my mind goes deeper then merely being physically next to a person.  There’s a mystery there.

To come into contact with

Yes, true spiritual contact.

To come together for a common purpose

Such as bathing in the Divinity of the other

To face directly

As in a right angle – looking into the eyes, glimpsing what’s within

***

I met eight people yesterday.  That makes me happy.  The first two were in conversations with my friends Prabigya and Yvet.  The last six were in a Zoom meeting with fifty members of the EC.  Sometimes during our practices I was paired with one other person, at other times with two.

How astounding to have that level of connection with so many folks, none of whom I’ve met physically.  Two of whom I’d never been in a practice with.

***

I am blessed to be in this world

With the opportunity to “be with” so many

I watch you from below
As you soar above the world
Offering your blessings to the earthbound

Where do you wander in your day?
What human sights do you see?
And when will you return to my eyes?

I love you the most
When your wings are still
And you float on the breeze
That God has given you

Just a wee tilt here and there
And off you go anew
Joining your brothers and sisters 
In flight

Perhaps I'll be among you
Next time I visit the Earth
For I too need to stretch my wings wide
And feel my belly feathers ruffled

You call to me
You invite me higher
You know who I am
And I you

I sat in Nostalgie this morning.  It’s a new breakfast place on the Sleepstraat.

Behind the counter was a nice lady who knew no English, and my Dutch wasn’t up to the task.  Two women enjoying their paninis helped me with the menu.

Nostalgie especially serves the Turkish community in Gent but clearly welcomes everyone.  A young Turkish man sat near me.  He was served a marvelous-looking egg dish in a little iron pan.  As I lusted over his food, I asked him about it.  He was so friendly in reply.

So … I’d say Nostalgie is a good place.  I shall return.

And now the wall:

I got up to look at each image.  I figure all the people are Turkish, as is the writing.  Many of the big cards looked old. 

I wondered if the folks depicted are dead now.  And that took my mind to the impact we make on the human beings we encounter in life.  Does our contribution linger after we die?  Does it end completely once those we knew die?  Maybe not.

Just a wall with big cards

Just a wee Turkish restaurant

Just three women and a man who wanted to help

Just lovely

Panos on the Langemunt and Izy Coffee on the Langemunt are two of my favourite places.  I know many staff members at each one.  I can be myself in their presence.

This morning I said the same thing in both restaurants …

I was up most of the night, working on a problem in mathematics.  It’s tough.  I need help.  I hope you’re good in math.

(Response: I’m not!)

Let’s give it a try anyway …  What’s 1 + 1?

(Staring faces)

I often wonder what people think when I say silly things.  Here are some guesses:

Huh?

What’s wrong with this guy?

Is he stupid?

Is he messing with my brain? 

As for the last question, the answer is “Yes!”

I’m so willing to be considered strange, mentally unbalanced, even a touch of dangerous.  I’m not any of those things.  But I secretly hope that my words will be a jolt, an gateway for the other person into a new realm.  And I secretly hope that they get it … and smile.

For so many years I’ve loved the word “silly”.  And for so many more years, I will continue the love … and the speaking.

This painting by Alex Grey is entitled Oversoul.  I have four reproductions of Alex’s work in my apartment.

Today, do I write six paragraphs of what Oversoul “means”.  No.  My meaning is likely different from yours.  And actually … why do I need it to have a meaning?  I don’t.

Perhaps I should compare Oversoul to other Alex Grey paintings, showing my keen skills of analysis.  No.

Okay … how about Grey and other contemporary artists?  Revealing distinctions here should enhance you readers’ appreciation of art.  No.

Or a lesson in the span of art history, leading to today?  No.

Please let Oversoul leap off the screen and enter your heart.  Your mind need not apply.

What are you experiencing

As you gaze at

The eyes, the face, and what surrounds?