Winter wisdom
Stars
shine brighter on the coldest nights.
As
if the harsh wind swollen with ice-shards, sharpens light,
Carving
edges and angles until starshine gleams diamond tough.
Hard
times rub raw, wearing down fleshy growths.
Daily
irritants temper soft living and hone the heart,
Hammering
essential character-curves that rise and dip, a roadmap of truth, receiving and
reflecting Presence;
Non-essentials
chipping away and flowing like sand through the artist’s fingers.
We
run from pain, from any semblance of suffering, afraid of the brand it will
burn
On
our inner selves; we know we will be made different by one deep look at its
formidable face.
Perhaps,
instead, suffering is a birth of authenticity.
A
laser-like burning of dross by a clean, cold scalpel.
Perhaps
suffering is a Michelangelo; an eternal eye finding the
Work
of art buried within our marble skin, freeing the frank and fearless soul to
Stand
and deliver Joy, Love, Presence.
Like
three candles bright, the Nativity in my Christmas snow globe houses
Mary,
Joseph, and the Child.
Each
small statue seems eternally surprised by finding itself straw-deep in a cold stable,
eye-fodder for a donkey, a cud-chewing cow, and ruminating sheep.
Mary,
Joseph, and the Baby Jesus unified by space and time, each life trajectory merging
into utter stillness
(Still, not static; recall that fast-moving
spheres appear motionless to our eyes)
The
Magnificat yes:
Yes, glory and
time joining;
Yes, body and spirit
merging;
A
still-life surface hiding the workings of proton pathways, elemental orbits,
Spirit breath.
Wild
joy birthed in a moment: this moment;
this eternal movement.
Only
in this present moment is joy lived, breathed, gifted.
The
past brings only a reflective glow of it; the future only a hope of it;
Joy
springs forth in this moment, this breath, this eternal Presence of body, soul,
spirit aligned in eternal motion.
To
live in each moment—sorrow or not, suffering or not—soul-eyes wide and alert, is
riding the eternal current:
Fathomless
Presence in a star gleam;
Boundless
Love in a Baby;
Unfettered
Joy.
