April 11, 2023
It’s Easter Sunday and Jim, Billie Rose (BR - our dog) and I are in Tobermory staying with friends at their beautiful cottage. After a very full day I was getting ready for bed and took BR out for one last time. I stepped outside and was immediately in the presence of the evening sky that was full of stars and the bright moon. We walked down to the edge of the water and stood taking it all in. I just love the feeling of space. The space above me, the space below me, the space in front of me and behind me and space on both sides of me. I was surrounded by space. I think space might be just the medicine the doctor ordered for me right now. Sometimes we all need space from our every day lives. As we stood by Lake Huron I was aware that there is space everywhere. In between all the stars and planets in the sky. Around the moon. In between the trees we walked through to get to the edge of the water. There is space in between all the rocks that we were walking on. There was space in the water we were overlooking.
Sometimes in life all we need is a little space to give us perspective. As BR and I stood there I felt a sense of awe and of being a very small part of the universe. But a part, none the less. I felt connected to all life in that moment. Connected to beauty. So alive. And I was so happy to be sharing it with BR. I stood there and became very present. I felt my body breathing, I felt my feet on the ground and the warmth in my hands. I set the intention to be present. I didn’t want to miss this moment. I thought about the wisdom traditions I have studied that teach each of us are also filled with space. In yoga and meditation we connect with what some call our inner spaciousness. Our inner aliveness. Our secret beauty. Parker Palmer, in his book “A Hidden Wholeness: The Journey Toward An Undivided Life – Welcoming the Soul and Weaving Community in a Wounded World” alludes to this inner spaciousness that sits at the centre of each of us. Parker says about this our inner space “ Thomas Merton calls it the True Self. Buddhists call it original nature or big self. Quakers call it the inner teacher or the inner light. Hasidic Jews call it a spark of the divine. Humanists call it identity and integrity. In popular parlance people call it the soul.” Many people I know call it this inner space the presence of love. Love that sits at the centre of us and is always there for us to take refuge in. Space is love. Aren’t we lucky to live in a part of the world where we have so much space around us.
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