And, this is living.

This poem….

I am standing upon the seashore.  A ship at my side spreads her sails to the morning breeze and starts for the blue ocean.  She is an object of beauty and strength and I watch her until at length she hangs like a speck of white cloud just where the sea and sky come down to mingle with each other.  Then someone at my side says, “There, she’s gone.”

Gone where? Gone from my sight..that is all.  She is as large in mast and hull and spar as she was when she left my side, and just as able to bear her load of living freight to the place of destination.  Her diminished size is in me, not in her: and just at the moment when someone at my side says, “There, she’s gone,” there are other eyes watching her coming, and other voices ready to take up the glad shout, “Here she comes!”

…and this is dying

Rev. Luther F. Beecher

…sparked something within me. A story of life.

I thought I would right align this story because that is the essence of it…

To stand in the place of the unfolding story as it emerges, to be active and responsible in the conversation and intention of it all and at the same time be enchanted by the mystery that is yet to be born.

 While walking in the woods, a message was whispered to me…follow your steps one by one, you’ll be amazed at where they lead.

 THIS, is my new navigation system. To listen to the messages that whisper yes to me…

to no longer say no, to no longer stay quiet when my heart, soul, blood say yes, to no longer doubt.

From this ‘right aligned’ place, I cannot get ahead of myself…there is a listening to what I am here for.

There is a breath.

There is a constant new evolution.

I am where the sky and sea mingle with each other.

I am both the dance and in the dance.

I am on the horizon and heading for the horizon.

I am not static.

I am an object of beauty & strength and at the same time, I am a speck of white cloud.

From here, on this vast blue ocean, I am my mast, my hull, and my spar in full size.

Here, in this place, I belong.

Here, in this place, my heart is at peace.

I am not invisible.

I am able to be & do what is needed. I participate fully. I am creative.

My voice and silence are clear, intentional, articulate, and purposeful.

I am able to bear my load of living freight to my ever-changing, and yet not, destination.

 Each day is a BIG day, each day is for me and through me it is for others.

When I am presented rain or rough waters, I am graced with learning, richness, new colours, sights, sounds, scents.  My journey is rich.  My story unfolds.

 My living freight; more exciting and necessary for those at the shore saying, ‘Here she comes’?

From here, I weather the storm.

        Sunshine and calm waters…I am graced with an opportunity to savour and celebrate.

What dance do I have time for on the ship’s deck and who is here to dance and sing and toast with me?

There may be days I move swiftly through the waters and there may be days I stand still.

Either way, each day is a BIG day.

This place, I am, is a frontier between what has been done and what is about to be done, who I was and who I am becoming…each day.

 At this time, my living freight is an unfolding story of love – love of others, love of work and love of self.

It is a living freight of conversations – conversations being and not being had.

Listening…and falling…falling in love with something that determines the next horizon.

Listening to what my heart beats loudly for. What my heart beats loudly for, for me, it also beats loudly for others.

 My heart beats loudly for peace and compassion.

For knowing and loving one’s mast, hull and spar.

For admiring the mast, hull and spar of others.

My heart beats loudly for living & loving where I have been, where I am and where I am headed.

My heart beats loudly for living & loving where you have been, where you are and where you are headed.

…and, THIS is living.

Kristen Bentley