Let us be this alive

“It is a serious thing just to be alive on this fresh morning in this broken world.” Thank you, Mary Oliver.
A funny thing happened on my way to writing Sabbath Moment this week. A heartwarming detour, enamored on an enriching trail of music and poetry.
I started with my favorite music from the early 70s. And yes, I remembered every word. (I just can’t always recall why I walked into the kitchen.)
And, I’m looking through the little pile of poetry books that sit on the table by the living room couch. Sometimes a poem is like hearing your favorite song from high school (or even childhood), and it makes your heart skip a beat.
And yes, some poems seem a bit messy; however, they can still be unstingy in their sweetness. After the second or third poem, you start to smile real big and then it goes to your head, and it makes you want to get out of your chair, and balter. (It’s one of my favorite words.)
To balter is to dance without particular skill or grace, but with extreme joy. Often performed by teenagers at parties, but can be enjoyed by a person of any age… say a middle-aged white guy. (“Hey, that is some sweet baltering you’re doing!”)
Let’s just say it is all a treat, and besides, why should baltering need a justification?
Okay, let’s use apaixonante, Portuguese for passion inducing. (It was one of the great words learned on my Portuguese Camino walk.)
It means captivating, even allowing you to make a fool of yourself without witnesses.
Yes.

Abundance
(in memory of Mary Oliver)
It’s impossible to be lonely
when you’re zesting an orange.
Scrape the soft rind once
and the whole room
fills with fruit.
Look around: you have
more than enough.
Always have.
You just didn’t notice
until now.
Amy Schmidt

So. Here’s the deal: I want to live “embodied”.
Embodied, we notice. We pay attention.
Embodied, we embrace the abundance.
Embodied, our life is a journey or a movement toward continual healing (or wholeness).
Here’s the way it translates to me: we no longer see any obstacle—or complication or hurdle—as a derailment. You know, something to get past or over… before life “really” begins. Maybe, to be whole—or to live embodied—is to love whatever “gets in the way.”
Embodied, I am invested. Which may mean turning the way we process (or see) reality on its head.

This all reminds me of a conversation I had recently. It’s still with me. A friend tells me, “I’m looking forward to that moment when I will wake up, and I’m no longer afraid. How old do you have to be? Have you had that morning yet?”
I do understand.
And yes, I want to be no longer afraid…
To try.
To fail.
To fall down.
To get up again.
To live messy.
To notice.
To embrace.
To love.
To care.
To say I’m sorry.
To say I forgive you.
To be kind.
To be gentle with ourself.
To live big-hearted.
To live open and inclusive and inviting.
To make a difference.
To let life in without regret.
To balter…
My friends, let us be this alive.
Although in all honesty, I do tell my friend, “No, I haven’t had that morning yet… I confess that my choices are still tinged with some unnamed apprehension.”
In The Measure of My Days, Florida Scott-Maxwell wrote, “You need only claim the events of your life to make yourself yours. When you truly possess all you have been and done… you are fierce with reality.”
Florida was 85 when she wrote those words.

I do want to stay deeply and profoundly human.
I want to choose to not give way to a hard heart, cruelty, unkindness or callousness.
I want to choose to not give way to spitefulness, marginalization, demeaning, unfeeling or intolerance.
I want to choose to honor empathy, peace, kindness, sanctuary, inclusion, dignity, justice. And joy.
We are no longer afraid.
Let us be this alive…

This alive, we do have a paradigm shift; a new metric for living. Robin Wall Kimmerer’s reminder, “Enumerating the gifts you’ve received creates a sense of abundance, the knowing that you already have what you need. Recognizing ‘enoughness’ is a radical act in an economy that is always urging us to consume more. Gratitude and reciprocity are the urgency of a gift economy, and they have the remarkable property of multiplying with every exchange, their energy concentrating as they pass from hand to hand, a truly renewable resource.
To name the world as a gift is to feel your membership in the web of reciprocity. It makes you happy—and it makes you accountable.” (The Serviceberry)
We are no longer afraid.
Let us be this alive…

This takes me back to baltering. In our minds we say Amen, or “sign me up.” And yet, there’s a gnawing sense that to live fierce with reality, we must get it right, as if some heavenly committee is grading us.
Zen master Suzuki Roshi writes, enlightenment is expressed by being just where you are.
A woman tells Roshi that she finds it difficult to mix Zen practice with the demands of being a full-time mother, employee, friend, volunteer, etc…
“I’m trying to climb this ladder of enlightenment. But for every step upward I slip backward two steps.”
He tells her, “Forget the ladder. When you are awake, everything is already right here on the ground.”
And let us remember: Wholeness. Fully-aliveness. Fierce with reality. These are not prescriptions. These are invitations. To life… Right here. Right now.

Later this week I’ll be in Anaheim, CA for the Religious Education Congress. I’ll be speaking on Saturday morning. I’ll see some of there.
Onward together my friends.

Quote for our week – “May I live this day compassionate of heart, clear in word, gracious in awareness, courageous in thought, generous in love.” John O’Donohue

BULLETIN BOARD

Today’s Photo Credit: “Good morning, Terry, It’s a scary world out there. But we have each other. This is what I’ve told coworkers. When I am overwhelmed, one of them will lift me up. When one of them feels like they cannot go on. I will be there for them. We have the beauty of the created world.  It will not go away. We have people like you who give us hope in our inbox. I am grateful for you. I hope one day you will come back to the Transfiguration Spirituality Center either as a speaker or a guest. You are not alone. I stand with you. Blessings,” Faith Lang (Glendale, OH)…. Thank you Faith… And thank you to all, I love your photos… please, keep sending them… send to terryhershey.com 

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Letters that do my heart good…
–I hope, Terry, you realize what a gift you give with every reflection. It is hard when all we see and hear is uncertainty, violence and mistrust. But we know our ever loving God has us all in His heart and there we are safe and can draw strength to help lighten someone else’s burden just by our presence, a smile, a touch. May you feel God holding you in His heart this day. Bless you! Sr. Eileen
–Dear Terry, Thank you for being real with us. When I read Sabbath Moments on Monday, I was so grateful you were able to write about the helplessness so many of us are feeling in our world today. As I write this now, I think of the Velveteen Rabbit, so here we are… What came to me then was maybe we are being invited to join our brothers and sisters around the world who have been feeling the same way for a long, long time. It’s “only with the heart that one can see rightly, what is essential is invisible to the eye” isn’t that what the Little Prince says. Then, there are days like today when the following comes to speak to me and give me courage and hope. I pray it’s a blessing to you. Let’s keep walking one step at a time. Pat
–The readings this week are from Genesis, the creation story, and when I saw your beautiful photo of the geese I could only think of the line “God saw that it was good.” Nice work! Alanna
–At times we all wonder if we make a difference in this world. Let me assure you that in my life you have made a great difference. I wake each Day looking forward to my daily reading of Sabbath moment and of course Richard Rohr. To do what you do has been a great choice. I chose this week to reread Jimmy Carter’s book an hour before daylight, his memories. As you have said this week, another person who made a difference. Like the starfish, I am one for whom you have made a great difference. Your freezing friend from snowless but frozen Minnesota. Happy new Year. Flip