This week past week has brought more political upheaval in America and sadly feeds further religious and spiritual conflict, along with other cultural divisions. This same week, the summer solstice arrived, the peak point of daylight and the shortest period of night. It is the point when summer as a seasonal event begins. Yet, this peak is also the beginning of decline in terms of daylight. In the I Ching (Book of Changes) we are reminded that peak conditions are not maintained permanently, rather they are cyclical and wisdom teaches us to move with the ebb and flow of what is named a "time of abundance", the peak stage of any process. "Therefore a sage might will feel sad in view of the decline that must follow. But such sadness does not befit him. Only (one) who is inwardly free of sorrow and care can lead in a time of abundance... be like the sun at midday, illuminating and gladdening everything under heaven. " Perhaps this is why the phrase "June is the Joy of God" came to me in this week of changes.
It seems strange with all the current events rocking the country and the world to consider Joy.
But the line is actually the title of this poem, by Larry Morris:
"June is the Joy of God"
"God's love is the warmth-shedding June
don't think
smell the lilacs
don't fret
let the crickets fill your ears
with love songs
from God"
This Joy is not about human fantasies of God's 'opinion' on social and political structures. Yes, we are active participants in society, but individual spirituality means stepping outside social structures for interior guidance on the ways in which we personally participate. Take this Sunday as a day to both recover from the shocks of recent events and to discover deeper levels of what is here and now. There is renewal in turning to nature's summer gifts (yes, even with the extreme heat and worry about what that means). Within the Joy, the giving way to summer, this summer season right here, new ideas are being formed, energy for fresh action is being generated. That applies to your individual, daily life as well as our shared collective life. This is Nature's season of Light. Let it be a summer of light for you that naturally lifts you and others. We begin by letting go of the struggle of thought today and turn to our senses and our hearts. This is the power of Nature's renewal. (Susan Nettleton)
For poet Wendell Berry's sense of Sabbaths, follow the link:
https://thesquattingsasquatch.wordpress.com/.../sabbaths.../
Follow this link for Rabindranath Tagore's exquisite reminder of universal Love: