What if I had the freedom to be Sara with as great abandon as that tree!
I distinctly remember the moment I recognized is-ness, the common state of all living things except us humans, for whom it remains an illusive state. I was taking a hatha yoga class, looking out at the trees, and said to myself: that tree never questions what it is, why it is rooted where it is, or its purpose. It never questions.
What if I had the freedom to be Sara with as great abandon as that tree!
What if that freedom came with as much relaxation as effort!
To be human is to struggle with the movement of life. We try to fix life by pinning it down like a butterfly, turning it into a specimen, a dead thing. We put life on the witness stand and cross-examine it. We take our responsibilities seriously. We take ourselves seriously.
Which brings me to one antidote we rarely consider: collapse.
Imperative
by Sara Eisenberg
I say this to you in all kindness: collapse.
Don’t worry about rubble, dislocation, flying dust.
It is just to relax,
end the exhaustion of holding
every which way,
in and up,
down and on,
that visceral tension,
those ringing nerves,
air-starved cells.
Collapse
into the shards of your questions and their answering wholeness,
sheltered in their feathered nest.
Smell, taste,
map them with gentle and probing touch.
Move with their quaking, aching rhythm.
Collapse,
sheltered there by the leaves of your shady oak,
ever undisturbed by thoughts of maple.
You are guests around my Thanksgiving table
Dear Friends –
It is just over a year that many of you have been following my blog posts.
This year of sharing my writing and practice with you have changed me both “for the better,” and “for good,” as Glinda and Elphaba sing to one another in Wicked, The Musical.
During this time, many “former” interests and areas of study have reappeared. They are knocking about in my heart and mind, shaking off years of dust and neglect. Insistent about wanting to be reintegrated as living presences in my life – social engagement, formal prayer, scriptural teachings from my Eastern path, a poetry manuscript I put aside over a year ago. These are some of my working edges, and I’ll continue to explore them in your good company.
Have you too been changed for the better over this past year? for good?
What are your working edges now?
What questions are you struggling with?
And what would you like to read about here in the coming months and year?
What kind of nourishment would help restore you to yourself?
Please take a moment out of your own holiday observances to respond in the COMMENT BOX below.
I’ll be paying attention.
I send you my deep gratitude in this season of giving thanks, for kind words, thoughtful comments, provocative questions. In a very real sense, I will feel your presence as guests around my family’s Thanksgiving table.
My dear friend Suzanne read the following poem to us at her table a few nights ago, and I’ll be sharing it at ours on Thursday evening.
Love and blessings to you and yours, and to the Greater Family of which each of our families is a part.
Sara
In Thanksgiving
adapted from the prayerbook Mishkan T’filah, used by Reform Jewish Congregations
For the expanding grandeur of Creation,
worlds known and unknown,
galaxies beyond galaxies,
filling us with awe
and challenging our imaginations,
we give thanks this day.
For this fragile planet earth,
its times and tides,
its sunsets and seasons,
we give thanks this day.
For the joy of human life,
its wonders and surprises,
its hopes and achievements,
we give thanks this day.
For our human community,
our common past and future hope,
our oneness transcending all separation,
our capacity to work for peace and justice
in the midst of hostility and oppression,
we give thanks this day.
For high hopes and noble causes,
for faith without fanaticism,
for understanding of views not shared,
we give thanks this day.
For all who have labored
and suffered for a fairer world,
who have lived so that others might live
in dignity and freedom,
we give thanks this day.
For human liberties and sacred rites,
for opportunities to change and grow,
to affirm and choose,
we give thanks this day.
We pray that we may live
not by our fears but by our hopes,
not by our words but by our deeds.
Blessed are You, Who orders and rules the universe, Your Name is Goodness,
it is fitting to give You prayers of gratitude and praise.