Spring Forth!

Spring has sprung!

Yes, I believe it is actually Spring- even up here in the mountains! As our late, dear friend, Charles (a hermit-type fellow, who lived alone in the woods up here for many years before moving to town in his last years) used to ask, “How can you tell?!

Well, Charles, if you are reading from wherever you are (he was a VORACIOUS reader, so I suspect he actually might be reading this from Beyond), you can tell that it’s Spring here by the mud, and the song, “Oak-ah-LEE!” of the red-winged blackbirds.

And you can tell by the smell of line-dried laundry, especially the sheets! Oh yes, we took that chance- making sure the clothespins were securely holding things onto the line, so there would be minimal risk of falling in mud. And the risk paid off…wonderful-smelling, wind and sun-dried laundry!!!

Well, let me take this moment to point out an opportunity I just received a heads-up about via email, from True Majority. You can sign up to participate in a “Write-in” which is different from a “Sit-in”. It will be an online event and you find more about it here:

http://www.peacenotpoverty.org/

The event information is time-sensitive, so if you want to sign up to participate, do so immediately. But go to the above link and check it out to get the full picture of what is going on with that.

It makes reference to the speech made by Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., at Riverside Church, to which I have referred before:

http://www.hartford-hwp.com/archives/45a/058.html

It is certainly worth the read again, I have read it repeatedly and find that I learn something of value every single time I read it. It’s long, but worth the time.

On the Equinox, my husband and I attended a "Bring the Troops Home NOW!" Rally and March, which commemorated the second anniversary of the Iraq War (two years too long, if you ask me!) and it was a great experience. There were a couple hundred participants in a predominantly Republican part of upstate NY.

There was ONE counter-demonstrator. Every time he heard something counter to his ideas, he yelled, “USA! USA!” or “Thank the Troops! Thank the Troops!” I can only surmise that this was the equivalent of plugging one’s ears with fingers and singing “LALALALALA!” to avoid being faced with the facts, like a child. And he also yelled, “Thank you W!”

All I could think of was my distant cousin, who lost his life while deployed in Iraq; a very young guy (my own oldest kid’s age), who was married a week before his deployment and never really got to experience married life or children, and I also think of his mother and her loss…but you have heard all this before, so I won’t bore you. As a mother and someone who LOVES children and has devoted a good deal of my time and energy to caring for children (mine and in the community via school and Head Start), I also thought of all the traumatized children in Iraq, who’ve been orphaned, and the mothers whose children have been killed. (Whom shall we thank for all that?)

On another note:

I was out on the land this morning and I did my usual prayers, and then
I just couldn't help myself and burst into songs. Of course, I ended
up with Amazing Grace (a great song that contains a lot very nice thoughts- “When we have lived ten thousand years, bright shining as the Sun…” a GREAT thought!), thinking of teachers and friends and loved ones who have gone on Beyond, and all the great folks with whom I have had the chance to meet and talk, and also with whom I have had the pleasure of sitting and sharing.

It was a very good experience. It felt very good.

I guess it's Spring inside me too. Must be that seeing the ground
truly beginning to significantly thaw, and seeing the places where
Life is being exposed- underneath trees where the snowmelt is
uncovering tiny green plants like partridge berry which returns to Life
each year, triggers this Spring time thaw in my soul too.

There is fertile ground in my mind to grow crops for good in my world.
Just as when the sun comes up and I again awake from sleep, alive and
breathing, I know that opportunity is renewed, regardless of the day
before and where I got caught up in drama. It doesn't matter because
this is a new day unfolding; just as this is a new season stepping
forward.

So just as I am grateful watching the former seasons roll along, I am
grateful for this one too. With each passing year of my Life I see
more and more ways in which All Truth Is In Nature, to be true.

It's such a comfort, knowing that everything has a beginning, and that
everything has its' time, and then that everything has an end. It helps
me to know, that even what unthinkable, unspeakable things are
happening in our world daily and even yearly, that even those things too
must come to an end… which means, another new beginning, full of opportunities.
Spring forth! Do your will!