The Graze V.119: Divine Love and Change

Dear Friends:

I spent some time with a friend this week talking about history. We talked about the history of Vermont and the research she is doing on the history of the small towns around Killington. She explained the process for land deeds in the late 18th century and the history of this space at Mission Farm. We often forget about the hardships of the past. Imagine transporting lumber and stone to build a homestead (not to mention a gothic English chapel!)

Our conversation brought me a new perspective on history. Change is inevitable and change is difficult.

In these times we are experiencing collective trauma. This has a profound impact on how we communicate with one another and how we move into our future together on this Earth. I believe we are given a choice everyday on how to relate to the suffering that is experienced in change. We can open up to each other and build trust or we can let our grief divide us with conflict and bitterness.

It is helpful for me to reframe the experience of change. Rainer Maria Rilke expresses this dynamic of change and growth as Widening Circles:

I live my life in widening circles that reach out across the world. I may not complete this last one but I give myself to it.

I circle around God, around the primordial tower. I’ve been circling for thousands of years and I still don’t know: am I a falcon, a storm, or a great song?

(You can listen to Joanna Macy read her translation of this poem here)

Life is always going somewhere. History teaches us that life is always evolving, growing toward something new and something more. Our notion of God is also dynamic as is our notions of spirituality, history and religion. In a time of such change, we might feel resistance to this newness, this unfamiliarity.

Yet, God, is unchanging. Rilke uses the image of the '“primordial tower”, and “the mist that brings forth the morning” to describe God. An unchangeable presence that you meet in darkness, - that surprises you into tears. This God who brings you to love.

May you find this God, this love, this center in your life in each moment.

With love and hope in the midst of change,

Lisa