(All photos are mine unless noted.)
Every once in awhile someone comes into the sphere of our life that has something special to offer, they are something of a rare human being who are in their own right beyond what the ordinary hours of our life are about. I have been fortunate to have been mentored and befriended by several remarkable men and women over the years. They are those who have found a "Way Of Life" that suits them well and are willing to share the person they have become because of the compassionate generosity that has infused them to their very core.
We do recognize those who somehow have the ability to reach into our heart and become safe there in our interactions with each other. We may not always reach out when they come into sight, but even a short encounter can have a lasting effect on us. One such person for me was a Buddhist Nun who gave a short four week seminar at the Health Care Chaplaincy in New York City. I forget what the topic was but I will never forget the peace that this woman exuded. It was, and still is a clear memory being strongly enveloped in a cloud of serenity that emanated from the heart and soul of someone who became the path she followed. She was perhaps the safest person I may have ever been with. There was no need or desire to be anything else other than myself in her presence.
Here in the Bangor area of Maine I have met someone who has the ability to be a safe refuge to all he meets and works with. I would like to introduce him to you and ask that you visit his Blog which appears regularly in the Bangor Daily News. Jim LaPierre is a Recovery Ally, someone not in recovery from any form of addiction but a friend to those who who are.
Please visit the site below and if you find it useful let all you know who might be interested know how to get to it. We don't get the opportunity to meet many people who help us shape our life in meaningful ways, I know that Jim's postings have value and I highly recommend taking a look and also subscribing to it. There is an overwhelming amount of material out on the net with not that much really worthwhile. This site is really worth looking at.
http://recoveryrocks.bangordailynews.com
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When help is available, loneliness is not an option.
The lesson to be learned is how to be alone without being lonely.
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The door to the refuge where I am rarely lonely.
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It is always another moment to take a few breaths and start again on the journey to fullness in life. Here is a letter to Mother Earth from where I do not know as it was sent to me without reference.
Dear Beloved Mother Earth,
Dear Ancestors, both Spiritual and Genetic,
We present
ourselves before you at this solemn moment of the New Year to express our
awareness, our gratitude and our aspiration as a spiritual family. We know that
our ancestors are always alive in us and that we can always take refuge in you
and in our ancestors.
Dear Mother
Earth, breathing in, we see that we and all of our ancestors are your children.
With your patience, stability, endurance and creativity you have raised us and
guided us through many lifetimes. You have given birth to countless Great
Beings, Buddhas, Saints, and Boddhisattvas.
You are the great Earth, you are Terra, you are Gaia, you are this
beautiful blue planet. You are the Earth Refreshing Bodhisattva–fragrant, cool,
and kind. We see that though we and our
ancestors have made many mistakes, you have always forgiven us. Each time we
return to you, you are ready to open your arms and embrace us.
Because of our
wrong perceptions and discrimination we have lived a life of separation,
hatred, loneliness, suffering, and despair.
We have allowed individualism to prevail, and it has caused a lot of
damage and hardship to you and to ourselves. We have run after fame, wealth,
power, and sensual pleasures and have
forgotten that these pursuits could never bring us true happiness.
We have spent
many lifetimes not able to recognize your presence as the Pure Land, as the Kingdom
of God, as the most wondrous home that we have. We have run after a distant
Promised Land, in heaven or in the future. This has caused us and you much
suffering. Tonight as we touch the Earth, we let go and offer you and our
ancestors our true presence. We have arrived. You are our home, our only home.
We have learned
that only love and compassion can make our lives meaningful, allowing us to
protect and preserve your beauty, and allowing us to heal ourselves. We can learn to live as one family -- as a community of brothers and sisters, all
children of the same Great Mother Earth, giving our descendants a chance for a
healthy and a bright future. We know that only through building brotherhood and
sisterhood in the present moment can we make this future a reality.
Dear Mother,
tonight, on the occasion of the New Year 2012, we make the vow to learn to live
in harmony and peace, in the very heart of our family and our community, just
as bees in the same beehive and cells in the same body. We promise that we shall remain openhearted
and capable of communicating with the members of our family and our
community. We promise to always listen
deeply and to use peaceful and loving speech.
We shall learn to listen to your voice, Mother Earth, to understand you
deeply and to hear your guidance and the guidance of our ancestors. We vow also to listen to our brothers, our
sisters, our friends, and to our children so that we may live in peace and
harmony with them. We promise to learn to see the happiness and well-being of
our family and community as our own happiness and well-being.
Dear Mother,
with great reverence, we give rise to the deep aspiration to begin anew. We
promise to you and also to our children: that we shall learn to breathe and
walk mindfully each moment of our daily life, to use the eyes and ears of the
family and community in order to understand, to live simply and to love without
discrimination, as you do. We promise to stop running from our suffering, but
to recognize, embrace and transform it. Only by understanding our suffering can
we heal and touch true happiness, and at the same time, restore your beauty and
freshness. You have been calling to us,
and some of us have heard your pain. You have been asking us for many lifetimes
whether you can count on us. Tonight, with palms joined and with one heart, we
say “yes, Mother, you can count on us.” We shall practice for you and for all
our ancestors so that joy, peace and harmony will become possible again. Please
accept our offerings of incense, flowers, fruit, tea, and our love. Yes Mother, we will be faithful to you.
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Here are two photos from a few weeks ago that easily show something of the serenity that I find on Campobello Island where Lee and I go regularly.
The first is the view from the deck of the cabin we rent taken in the very early morning. the second is a view from the lighthouse looking out on Cobscook Bay at dusk. I get only a feeling of belonging from both places at any time of the day. Morning has its own special moments as it is the start of a new day, another day that the Lord has made. Dusk is the end of the day where gratitude can be expressed for another day in God's Creations.
The first is the view from the deck of the cabin we rent taken in the very early morning. the second is a view from the lighthouse looking out on Cobscook Bay at dusk. I get only a feeling of belonging from both places at any time of the day. Morning has its own special moments as it is the start of a new day, another day that the Lord has made. Dusk is the end of the day where gratitude can be expressed for another day in God's Creations.
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A little humor:
Peace and Joy at any time of the day or night,
no matter what others may think.
Bill Lagerstrom
