morehope

remembering: things to remember

a teacher once traded me some of his seeing for some of mine

write me, tell me, he said, unabashedly everything you know

ok I thought, no problem

then it seemed like a trick, or like a zen koan

and then I got it

it was instead, the lesson of the quintessential here and now

and the glory of the moment as it unfolds and gives way

I was doing something ordinary, and I found myself thinking about affiliation

and I thought about you and what you had asked me to do

as if to help ground you from time to time, or find the path

or maybe just remember some things forgotten in the moment

(not unlike telling you everything I know)

and I look at the trees and see leaves falling to the ground

and see traces left by the wind

and I think about some or our conversations

and the words that we used, you remember?

about souls & hearts and connecting & trusting and continuity & durability and integrity

and it dawns on me--

it's not so much, that I remember you

or anything for that matter--

as if it were something discrete or separate from my daily life, or the minute

it is of the minute, of the web linked by the golden threads that we spin and weave together

it's about not disconnecting

because connectedness is the default

it's about the majesty of the mundane

(c) 2002-03jgoldberg

part i

part ii

hope is about God willing and the river don't rise

all the time knowing of course it does

and so hope is remembering the tide goes out and carries with it

the river to the sea

hope is remembering the rainbow

the ferocity of the trees and that wolves hum

hope is in our loving one another and trusting its durability, its bounty

knowing all at once it includes the fear

and any

possibility

hope is in knowing

even as we remember our doubt

hope is still being alive after feeling so sad

you thought you must die

hope is making it through the night

and remembering

there is nothing like the smell of coffee in the morning

and hope

is walking the path of the seasons

and learning the rythms of the moon and the songs of the wind

and remembering

through the ages the trees have stood guard and bear witness to the comings and goings of the sun

and that seeds give forth their bloom and hearts give forth their bounty, sometimes full

sometimes empty

and that growth is part of change

and change a part of all life

caveat: if this sounds more like a conversation about faith rather than hope--in this particular case, even being the stickler I am for words, I'm not wedded to the word--just to the concept