We live in difficult times, but times made difficult by the machinations of people. Greed, hatred, and ignorance drive us to living in delusion, always wanting more, or at least something other than what we already have. Take the time to stop and notice the actual world, still present despite the suffering we create on our own. Grasp the beauty and wonder of nature, and the solace and healing of love. Do not do so to escape the present turmoil, but to renew your faith that this is a world worth saving.
Today’s quotes are from Barry Lopez’s book “Arctic Dreams.” Mr. Lopez died on Christmas Day, 2020. His book is a reflection formed while visiting the Arctic regions. It is at once a lesson in history, archeology, anthropology, and spirituality. It is a wonderment!
Today’s Quotes:
“Whatever evaluation we finally make of a stretch of land, however, no matter how profound or accurate, we will find it inadequate. The land retains an identity of its own, still deeper and more subtle than we can know. Our obligation toward it then becomes simple: to approach with an uncalculating mind, with an attitude of regard. To try to sense the range and variety of its expression—its weather and colors and animals. To intend from the beginning to preserve some of the mystery within it as a kind of wisdom to be experienced, not questioned. And to be alert for its openings, for that moment when something sacred reveals itself within the mundane, and you know the land knows you are there.”
“Lying flat on your back on Ellesmere Island on rolling tundra without animals, without human trace, you can feel the silence stretching all the way to Asia. The winter face of a muskox, its unperturbed eye glistening in a halo of snow-encrusted hair, looks at you over a cataract of time, an image that has endured through all the pulsations of ice.
You can sit for a long time with the history of man like a stone in your hand. The stillness, the pure light, encourage it.”
From “Arctic Dreams” by Barry Lopez
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Peace!
Jim
James M. Walsh Pastoral Counseling 