Patterns and Peace

When things seem stirred up in my life, sometimes all I have to do is see more clearly. I’ve found that if I can simply notice the usually unnoticed things around me, life feels lighter and more leisurely. If, for instance, I take some time to tour my wife’s garden on an abundant summer day and actually see the assorted shades of the blossoms, actually notice the slight shifting of the flowers in the faintest winds, I almost always come away with a quieter feeling about life. Problems seem simpler after I’ve studied the colors of clouds for a few seconds, or seen the different ways two houses shine in the sunlight, or observed the movement among millions of leaves in windy trees. Even taking the time to notice the patterns in one of our colorful plates or bowls, or the way a sunroom window shows the shades of early morning light, might make a day seem effortless, its potential problems powerless and easy to solve. 

And this morning, on our walk in the Peace Sanctuary, I happened to notice these lovely patterns along the trail –

– the stones and moss and leaves and roots all stylishly set in their perfect places. I paused for a few seconds and studied them, and perhaps that pause has brought even more of my usual peacefulness to this day.

RAIN
 
R  emember its gift, the 
A  lways satisfying song it sings
I  n the trees and inside you, because 
N  ow, all of life is wet and wonderful.