Grace

Every morning when I drive through the hills I thank God for bringing me here. The hills look different everyday, either the light quality is different, or it has rained or the mist is sitting at the foothills and I am driving through clouds. The sheep and cows grazing and the horses tossing their manes is such a beautiful sight. So today instead of just thanking Him I decided to make a list. The drive is usually smooth, I drive at 100K throughout and have to slow down only if there is traffic. I thanked Him for the smooth roads, the condition of the car, for the feeling of flight I have when the car goes smoothly downhill, the sudden turns and the breathtaking beauty each bend brings. I thanked Him for the freshness of the air and the clean water. I thanked Him for little things, if I get into a bus I will most likely get a seat, and a train too. A train ride to Wellington ensures some great landscape watching. I thanked Him for the ease with which affairs can be conducted here, u don’t have to watch your back all the time. I thanked Him for friends who always come to help and for the opportunities He provided for helping them too, for there is grace in receiving too. I thanked Him for my job and that I have one and for the support my workmates provide. By this time I had reached office so I had to stop but I could have gone on and on. But it was great to start the day in such a state of gratefulness and grace, that a smile comes easily to the lips.

Dark, mysterious night

Last night I was driving home in the dark, in the warm cocoon of the car, the darkness soft and enveloping, the streetlights throwing harsh puddles of light. I could feel the presence of the river flowing besides, dark-bodied and mysterious. The roads though familiar felt like they carried a secret and beckoned me to find out. Houses looked warm and comforting. I felt like driving on and on through the delectable, mysterious night.

Helen Keller

One can never consent to creep when one feels an impulse to soar.

- Helen Keller

Silver night

I sit on a still night under the eucalyptus tree looking up at the sky through its branches. Stars beckon. Furry clouds are spread across the sky and the thin sliver of the moon fails to knife through them. Leaves rustle softly and insects make little chirping noises. A bird lulled to sleep by the murmuring brook wakes up and warbles its appreciation. A soft darkness gathers but the grass is still eerily lit by the cloudlight. The silence is silvery and the peace is deep.

Don't lose yourself

Sometimes it so happens that some thing posesses us completely, it could be a person, a career, an activity, so much so that we derive our sense of ourself from that thing. And when that external stimulus is withdrawn, our sense of self is fractured, broken. Always remember that we are whole and complete in ourselves. So don't lose yourself in something external to you.

The blossoming spirit

This morning after getting up I decided to meditate for a while. While meditating I had this feeling that I sometimes get that I am in the prescence of God. My spirit just blossomed and I felt like I was surrounded by this overwhelming love and a corresponding love rose within me. I kept feeling 'I love you God' and I was so happy I started crying just like in the poem. Then I said 'Can I kiss you God?' And she said, 'You will have to kiss the whole universe of just kiss something that is nearby, for I am in everything". There was such beauty and such peace. I felt like the Seagul felt when it has risen over all the clouds and looked down at the others huddled against the rain. All my pain, envy, desires just vanished. It was such an incredibly blissful experience. It is hard to describe. I felt my clarity returning and felt centered again.