Today started cloudy and foggy. Low clouds over the mountains. However, one way of seeing our natural inner self is like the expansiveness of a clear blue sky. The troubles that cross our path each day can be seen as clouds crossing this clear sky. Just as the clouds can only temporarily block the sun but are not of the same strength as the sun, our problems are only temporary and what causes them to become suffering can be removed from the mind. So even with low fog this morning we can greet the sun which is always there. Even when troubles cross our path today we can drop into the natural calm which lies beneath. Hello, sun in my face.
Hello, you who made the morning
and spread it over the fields
and into the faces of the tulips
and the nodding morning glories,
and into the windows of, even, the
miserable and the crotchety –
best preacher that ever was,
dear star, that just happens
to be where you are in the universe
to keep us from ever-darkness,
to ease us with warm touching,
to hold us in the great hands of light –
good morning, good morning, good morning.
Watch, now, how I start the day
in happiness, in kindness.
Mary Oliver, Why I wake early
