Common Ground #2
Kernels of corn. Kernels of wisdom. These are what I offer to you today. I was just watching four young squirrels playfully scampering on and under our neighbor’s deck. My husband Darcy and I enjoyed a morning walk that began in darkness and ended in light. It is a new day. A day we have never had before and never will again. Let’s make something of it.
It’s been a week—a time change and historic election news confirming a divided nation. For us in our house—a new stove replacing a broken one, new tires on my car, an oil change that almost wasn’t, and a haircut for me. This week was both usual and unusual. There was laundry washed, dried, folded and put away. There were meals made and dishes cleaned. There were lights and faucets turned on and off.
Last week in my post, Common Ground #1, I wrote:
Embrace that which can help bring us forward, individually and collectively. Humility. Tolerance. Kindness. Faith. Understanding. Forgiveness. Working side by side. Open minds and loving hearts.
Like these leaves, carried along by the breeze, there is plenty beyond my individual control. Just for today, I will focus on what is in my control—my words and actions. I will use them to build common ground. Onward!
I appreciated reading my own words again, and have also appreciated these kernels of wisdom from others, helping me ease the dis-ease of division and return to the good energy of hopeful and helpful contributions.
It is enough to be grateful for the next breath.
-Br. David Steindl-Rast-
When we endlessly ruminate over distant times, we miss extraordinary things in the present moment. These extraordinary things are, in actual fact, all we have: the here and now.
-Katherine May-
When we begin to hold our markers for success in concepts like interconnectedness and kindness, when we place our highest value on each other, our children and our relationships, then our human spirits soar.
-James Arana-
Look around, look around at how lucky we are to be alive right now!
-Lin-Manuel Miranda-
This is the wisdom of young squirrels playing and daylight arriving. This is the wisdom of resilience and steadfastness.
Onward! The future is not behind us. It is ahead of us. And it starts in the here and now. Plant some kernels of wisdom today.
