What time is it?

This week the rest of the country once again changed time. That is to say, people set their clocks back an hour on Nov. 7, if that is really changing Time?????????Not here. For reasons I have still to find out, Arizona just keeps the same time all year. Which, given the fact we no longer live in an agricultural society, makes sense to me. Sort of. If clocks make sense at all.

I mean, what is time anyway? Really? If you could ask any animal or bird what time it was, it would make no sense to them. Ancient people always connected time to stars and their movements, the moon's phases, the sun's position in the sky, etc.

Our use of clocks fits our industrial-age way of life, but it is artificial, isn't it? Whether the clock says it is 5:30 or 6:30, the sun still sets and rises at the same "time" and the natural life of the world continues in its usual way and pace.

Then there is the mystery of our own personal sense of time. How it flies when we are having fun, and drags when we are not, or when we are eager for something in the future to happen as soon as possible.

To further complicate things, our increasingly interconnected internet world, where conversations occur across "time zones" and life keeps getting faster and faster, is warping time in some really interesting ways. I notice in gift catalogs that come at this time of year an increase in items intended to help travelers and others cope with the country and world's various time zones. Stop. What time is right now in London? and isn't it passing strange that the little island country of England would be where "Greenwich mean time" is, or the time by which all other clock time is calculated. Weird.

I have a good mind, now that I am thinking about it, to quit wearing my watch, and look at the clock on our kitchen wall (see pics) as little as possible, just to get more in tune with any innate sense of the passing of "time' I may have left after 69 years in a world/society seemingly ruled by clocks and watches!

Isn't it time you some time took a time out from keeping time?

O dear. I see it's "time" to go!

Walking the Pathway of Gold

A golden opportunity presented itself this morning at sunrise. Literally. Knowing the golden colors of fall would soon be fading, I took my camera, Leo, my flute, and an eager eye on an early walk out in a meadow nearby. From the time I set foot on the path towards the meadow, and all the way through it, everywhere I looked I was surrounded by gold---foliage of gold, flowers of gold, the gold light of the rising sun. I was walking a pathway of gold, though not the kind of gold men came out west for during the gold rush, which brought in its wake the sad consequences of greed and violence, ruined lives, and grievous damage to mother earth. The glorious glow of of gold that gladdened my heart this morning came from the heart and imagination of the Creator of all, bringing nothing but joy.

I saw what I considered a sign of this when I spied a great black desert raven sitting on the tippy top of a tall pine tree along the trail, facing the sun, and cawing in a soft and curiously beautiful way as the sun rose. I took out my flute and joined in the praise. It was a truly magical moment. When the sun had cleared the horizon, the raven flew off, and I kept walking through the world of gold about me, reflecting.

It struck me how full of joy and comfort the beauty of nature is, given so freely and grace-fully to us in so many ways. It is always there for us, whatever may be happening in our lives, and all we have to do is become aware of it and receive the gift--far more precious than metal

gold. And I also realized that the path of life I walk can also be a path of gold if it is the gold in all that I see, in all that happens, that I focus on with a grateful heart.

I could say more, but want instead to share a poem from a wonderful book of poems entitled "Why I Wake Early" by Mary Oliver, one of my favorite poets. She says so eloquently what I have stammered to say. Listen to her......

MINDFUL

Every day

I see or I hear

something

that more or less

kills me

with delight,

that leaves me

like a needle

in the haystack

of light.

It is what I was born for----

to look, to listen,

to lose myself

inside this soft world---

to instruct myself

over and over

in joy,

and acclamation.

Nor am I talking

about the exceptional,

the fearful, the dreadful,

the very extravagant---

but of the ordinary,

the common,

the daily presentations.

Oh, good scholar,

i say to myself,

how can you help

but grow wise

with such teachings

as these--

the untrimmable light

of the world,

the ocean's shine,

the prayers that are made

out of grass?

Watch for the Signs

John and I arrived last night in our beloved Sedona, one of the most beautiful places in the world. Being here really is the result of "going confidently in the direction of a dream" I have had all my adult life of someday being able to live overlooking the sea and the mountains. I imagined that might be one and the same place, like the beautiful home of a friend I visited years ago in the Virgin Islands, which overlooked mountains and a beach. Instead, I was gifted by Amazing Grace with a home on the Inland sea we call Lake Michigan, and a home at the edge of the Red Rock mountains and wilderness of Sedona.

There is a Native American chant I learned some time ago which goes like this: "I walk in Beauty; beauty is above me, beauty is below me, before me and behind me. Beauty surrounds me."

That is really the essence of my dream: to live and walk in beauty all the days of my life.

For to me, beauty is the Face of God. And it is present, not only in beautiful places, but everwhere, if we just have the eyes to see it, for as the poet said, "beauty is in the eyes of the beholder." There is such beauty in human faces, like the Native American grandmothers pictured above. There is beauty in the sound of the wind, and laughter, and singing.

What makes something beautiful to you or me is a mystery still unravelled by philosophers, but celebrated by poets. One of my favorites is Gerard Manley Hopkins. I love his line "Give beauty, beauty, beauty back to God, Beauty's Self and Beauty's Giver." Well said!

Do you walk in beauty? What beauty did you see today, or yesterday? And what will you do to be more aware of beauty tomorrow? What difference does beauty make in your life?

Leaving again for the first time

Hello my patient family and friends.

I am back to blogging again after a long recess, due to my mom's health crisis this season. A week or so ago, she was finally well enough to move into the assisted living room prepared for her.

I am so grateful!

Tomorrow we leave again for Sedona, and will be on the road for five days or so. I am going to begin blogging regularly again. So far, Sedona seems to be a better place to do it, with more free time available for writing and other things. So starting tonight, all Hallow's Eve, I hope to blog at least 3 x a week or more, and hope you who are still checking will notice and let me know.

The sunset picture today symbolizes the end of another season here, filled with beauty and surprises, some stress and much good. This will be the fourth time we will be setting out for Sedona for three months or more, and though we now are getting the hang of preparing to leave, putting the house to "sleep" etc. it still feels like something new as well as familiar.

We are not the same. The weather is not the same. The trip will not be the same. And neither will our time in Sedona. Even in familiar places, things change. That's life. And that is a good thing, most of the time.

One of the things that will be different is that I will be leading week long retreats in Sedona in January, February, March, and April. Many of you know already about this, having received a flier from me. If any of you do not and want more info. just let me know at my email address: marchiene@gmail.com.

I'll have my trusty camera at the ready as we travel the road, and you may be sure there will be interesting things to see, experience, and reflect on. So stay tuned.

Meanwhile, I invite you to reflect on how "the same old" can also be fresh and new in your life, and how Nature teaches us through a wonderful balance sameness and newness: we get the same four seasons, year in and year out, yet each year, each season is just a bit different from the one before, and not as predictable as one might think! That reminds me that life keeps us on our toes with it's surprises. Our choice is how or whether we will welcome them or resist them.

And that determines how good we feel about our lives.

Fading

As I am getting older, I find I more often experience "fading." I will be alert, talking with someone, or doing some task, perhaps in the afternoon, or in the evening, and suddenly I become aware that I am fading. The energy is just seeping out of me. I feel done with whatever I am doing.

Watching a lovely peony fading away one afternoon this summer brought this home to me.

I sat sketching it while I was on retreat. I was struck by the fragile and poignant beauty of its drooping petals. Yet, the stem, the leaves, the plant from which the flower had bloomed was still vibrantly alive and greening with life.

Yesterday I sat in the hospital room again with my aged mother, and she reminded me of the fading peony. Her life, her beauty, her strength, her vitality were like petals wilting and falling away. Yet, yet......her spirit, her essence, deeper than her ageing body, was still greening with life, like the stems and leaves of the peony. And like the peony, I believe my Mom to be a perennial. She will bloom again in another Garden when another Spring comes.

And so, I choose to believe, will you and I.

aging

It has been way too long since my last blog, and the reason is that Ihave been non stop with my Mom since late June, including being with her for three weeks in the hospital, along with my brother and his wife (Andy and Jane) and John supporting and coming in when he can. She had to have major surgery and is still recovering, which is not unusual for a 98 year old woman! She has had ups and downs, and I think of her as sometimes frail, and sometimes like a "steel magnolia" though she is not from the South.

If I ever go through anything like this, God forbid, I hope I do it with her grace and dignity and ability to roll with the punches. Needless to say, an experience like this has smacked me in the face with my own mortality and aging and though I believe to the marrow of my bones that death is a doorway into a better and greater life in communion with God, I can't say the aging thing is easy to deal with, in my mom or in me! Wouldn't we all love to keep our youthful vigor and strength? Who likes to tire more easily, and find oneself more limited, not seeing or hearing as keenly, etc. ?

On the other hand, there is the strength of soul and spirit that keeps on increasing even while our physical bodies are losing ground. But I don't think that happens automatically.

One needs to cultivate hope, and faith, and endurance, and flexibility, and love, and all the other spiritual virtues we might name. The time to do that is now! It is a lot harder when the rough times come, and pain or weakness are overwhelming. So once again, my mom is teaching me vital lessons in living well. I think I am just beginning to see what they are, and then learn them by heart.

I wrote a poem about dying I would like to share as a way of closing today's blog.

I make no promises, but I will be trying to write more regularly as possible and trust at least a few of you are still hanging in there and checking from time to time.

Here is the poem:

When my time has come

Let me walk over the water on the red path

of the setting sun,

Climb the purple cloud banks reflecting

the day's last rays,

Perch on their gilded summits and slide

like a gleeful child

down their airy slopes for the ride of my life

to the other side.

Spin Your Own Web

I was climbing the stairs from our cottage up to the parking lots yesterday morning, when I caught sight of these gorgeous spider webs on our stairs. Such works of art!!!

They reminded me of what Native Americans would call the gift of a "power song" which was given to me years ago at Morningstar Retreat Center as I sat in a cabin watching a spider spin its web right near my chair. That song came, both words and music, during that watching-time, and it has often helped me make decisions, especially when I am being pressured by somebody to do something I am not sure is right for me.

Perhaps this power song will be of some help to you now and then when you find yourself in the same situation.

Here it is:

SPIN YOUR OWN WEB, SISTER/BROTHER DEAR,

SPIN YOUR OWN WEB, DO NOT FEAR.

NEVER LET YOURSELF BE CAUGHT

IN ANOTHER'S SHOULD OR OUGHT.

SPIN YOUR OWN WEB, SPIN IT NOW.

SPIN YOUR OWN WEB, YOU KNOW HOW.

OTHER PEOPLE'S WEBS WILL BE

PLACES WHERE YOU CAN'T BE FREE.

A spider's web comes right out of its very own body/self; and when we spin our own webs, the pattern, the threads of what is fitting for us to do comes from our authentic self. It takes time and patience and being in touch with one's own true self to spin one's own web, but it is well worth the effort, and what happens is also beautiful. A web we spin catches just what we need to nurture us and enable us to do what is right for us at a particular place and time in our lives.

It is so much better than struggling, like a bug, in some other "spider's" web, caught by old messages of "should" and burdened by someone else's (or some institution or group's) agenda.

And isn't it interesting that we now live in the time of the "World Wide Web?"

I watch some people I know getting all caught up in this web--so much so, they have no time or energy to spin their own. Is there a way to be a part of the worldwide web AND spin your own web? You tell me!