This week I urge you to be lighter of heart. I barely had time to reflect on this message, when news hit of war in Gaza, bringing more division, fear, anger and sorrow, that seems an inevitable part of 21st century life. Yet, on deeper reflection, today remains a good day to cultivate a lighter spirit. We need spaces and times of lightness, as the days gradually grow shorter and the nights darker. October can bring the slanted golden light of Autumn. When golden light meets a vibrant blue sky the world is magical and mystical and well...delightful. Don't let the heaviness of the human struggle take away the wonder of life. This Sunday is a day to pull away from mental/emotional struggle and disturbing events that overload your circuits. As best you can, release or suspend the ominous burden of war in prayer that includes prayer for those who are called to represent us (on all sides) in securing the greater good. A lighter heart brings renewal and renewal brings new strength. When we release global events to God, to Our Higher Power, to an Intelligent Universe, we also throw off any traces of shadowy malaise in our hearts.
In my second year of college, I took 2 literature courses that blew open the narrow frames of my childhood and the campus scenes of the 70's. The first was a class on existentialism, and the second Marjory McCorcadale's class in transcendental literature. My first assignment in Transcendentalism was returned with a note from the professor that said, "I fear the malaise of everyday life has you in its clutches!". The grade was written, "Sadly, 'A'". Her notes shocked me. Having spent the previous semester absorbed in Existential literature, I assumed life was 'absurd', despair or rebellion the only intelligent recourse. I chewed on here notes, while we read and wrote on Emerson and Thoreau. But it was Walt Whitman, writing of his sheer love of humanity and "everyday life" as the very expression of God, that freed me. Life became wondrous and the summer that followed brought my first spiritual awakening,
Malaise is an interesting word, originating from the French (along with many Existentialists). It can be a kind of prodromal feeling that illness is setting in, or that you are right on the cusp of a cold or flu or other virus, but it also can be applied to rather lifeless emotions and general unease. Merriam-Webster's online dictionary offers this definition: "A recipe: combine a handful of the blahs, a pinch of the blues, and maybe a soupçon of ennui, season generously with 'under the weather,' and voila, you’ve got yourself the stew of sinking sensations known as malaise."
Time to shake it off before it pulls you too low! Yes there are weighty issues to be reckoned with, in the world, in American society and in our own lives, but we need lightness, too. That's really what the 50th annual Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta is about this week, as well as fall festivals across America, and even early preparations for Halloween. Try adding a touch of play or even whimsy to the week ahead. If you are in Albuquerque, at least look out your window. There maybe a balloon (or 10 or 100) floating by... perhaps mysteriously announcing your spiritual breakthrough! If you are elsewhere, let life's magic find you. (Susan Nettleton)
For a touch of lightness:
https://jmolin.com/2008/10/avocado-by-gary-snyder/
https://poets.org/poem/watermelons?page=1