For those of you who were in the sanctuary this past Sunday, you know that I have been reading Becoming Wise, by Krista Tippett. The subtitle is An Inquiry into the Mystery and Art of Living, and includes wonderful conversations with a variety of interesting people, including the writer Pico Iyer. He has spent most of his life travelling, but says, “Now, I just want to sit still for years on end, really, charting the inner landscape because I think anybody who travels knows that you’re not really doing so in order to move around—you’re travelling to in order to be moved. And really what you’re seeing is not just the Grand Canyon or the Great Wall but some moods and intimations or places inside yourself that you never ordinarily see when you’re sleepwalking through your daily life. I thought, there’s this great undiscovered terrain that Henry David Thoreau and Thomas Merton and Emily Dickinson fearlessly investigated, and I want to follow in their footsteps.” (p. 196)

I love the idea of moving around to be moved, but I must confess I am really looking forward to seeing new sights as well. It won’t be the Grand Canyon or the Great Wall; but I will have the opportunity to see the Pacific Ocean from San Diego to San Francisco, and that will be wonderful. As well, it will be fantastic to see the faces of people I love very much, and don’t usually get to see. Mr Iyer’s comment on how we go through our ordinary lives as sleepwalkers isn’t necessarily true. One can wake up in the same bed every morning, have the same thing for breakfast and go to the same job, but if one has even one minute of mindfulness, a fresh perspective is gained, a miracle has occurred.

Ordinary days are extraordinary; a confluence of generations of survivors, good health, good relationships and the gratitude for all of it. May all of your days in the coming months be filled with gratitude; and may you find good companionship and comfort from this religious community. I will miss you all.

Rev Susan