I love clouds! My Mom, who was a prolific watercolor artist in her day, also loved clouds. In fact, she went through a long phase where she painted nothing but clouds. She would pack her paper lunch sack with a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and a piece of fruit and take a big thermos full of something healthy to drink and head for Martha’s Vineyard or Westport MA or one of her other beachside sanctuaries and paint clouds all day long.
Clouds are actually great teachers if you allow your contemplation of them to go deeper than the fact that they come and go so fast that usually, you don’t even notice.
Imagine a seriously overcast day, where the entire sky is filled with dark, dreary, about-to-dump-cold-rain clouds as far as the eye can see. While it might be a little depressing, especially if that kind of weather has persisted for a while, still you logically understand that the Sun IS there, somewhere; momentarily out of sight, temporarily not blessing you with its full light and warmth, but still very much existent and real.
Faith is a lot like knowing that the Sun IS there, even when you can’t see it. The dark periods of our lives can sometimes seem to go on forever, but let’s face it; complaining or demanding that the Sun come out before nature runs her course, would be like waking up at 1:00 in the morning and being disappointed when your affirmations don’t successfully force the sun to rise before its hour. To everything, there is a season. To EVERY THING there is divine timing. Just because we aren’t privy to all of the pieces of the puzzle yet doesn’t mean that there isn’t an omnipotent omnipresent Universal Power that IS.
One of my greatest teachers taught me that “A perfect life is one where there is no complaining”. I always loved that. At the core of complaining is the denial of the beauty, however small or hard to find, in each and every moment, if only we were present to appreciate it. Life really doesn’t have to be as difficult as we ourselves make it. It may not be easy much of the time but life can and does become simple, once we have mastered the art of knowing when to act and when to witness; when to speak up and when to wait. I offer a powerful poem I wrote several years back that beautifully encapsulates this embodied wisdom in just a few lines;
Self-effort and Grace
perfectly balanced in the
winged flight of a bird
Innately knowing
when to glide and when to flap…
its life is simple.
Observe. Stop. Breathe. Here, now, in this moment… ALL is well in the world.
Innately knowing
when to glide and when to flap…
its life is simple.
Observe. Stop. Breathe. Here, now, in this moment… ALL is well in the world.
I hope that you know how dearly I appreciate your appreciation and support, Larry. And I sincerely love your gentle lyrical word dances as well 💕
Elizabeth, a poet, a master of words that come alive as stories you share. Love your storytelling….