Beside Restful Waters

by Gregory Hermann

I want to listen deeply enough that I hear everything and nothing at the same time and am made more by the enduring quality of my silence.

I want to question deeply enough that I am made more not by the answers so much as my desire to continue asking questions.

I want to speak deeply enough that I am made more by the articulation of my truth shifting into the day’s shape.

In this way, pondering and sharing become my connection to the oneness of life, and there is no longer any part of me in exile.

Richard Wagamese: Embers, One Ojibway’s Meditations

I want to question deeply enough that I am made more not by the answers so much as my desire to continue asking questions.

Mr. Wagamese has shifted my paradigm, my way of thinking with this phrase. I have been taught to look for the answers in life. Yet, in reflection on life itself, there seems to be a never-ending flow of questions, of searching, of wanting more…………

I will have to say it’s called growth. It is the simple direction of life. With each consuming experience of life, there is a related source of pain with it’s agony of healing followed by a revelation of joy – peace – grace - - - I won’t put words to your experience but I believe we know the process well. It is that final experience of soul that often suggests that the journey is complete, only to recognize that there is always another step, another path, another opportunity to grow.

That next opportunity is full of new questions, just when I thought I had the answer.

Good grief Charlie Brown!!!!

I will add this to the statement of Mr. Wagamese: while new questions are a part of the cycle of love, I am finding the act of acceptance minimizes the frustration of the new questions. In acceptance, I find periods of peace, periods of simply being without a new quest and without a new challenge. These are the necessary practices of patience that enhance the fullness of each cycle, of each experience.

My impatience drives me to something more, something new and does not give me time to fully ‘know’ what just happened.

I apply my APP: acceptance, patience, practice.

Practice the acceptance of the moment to come to know.

Patience with the need to practice as I become.

Practice becoming.

The new questions will come soon enough. Meantime, I will be for a while. I will rest for a while. I will wallow in our oneness, our intimacy, our love – our healing.

Thank you.

Namaste’