Extremes

Everywhere, extremes!  Today the temperature here will go from 32 at dawn to 85 mid-afternoon, and then back down to 28 tonight.  The climate everywhere is in the same extreme dilemma.  Likewise, everywhere, extremes of political power and opinion, of economic privilege and social advantage, of warlike vengance and sincere prayers for peace, and on and on—extremes are obvious everywhere.  And in my own head, in my memory, for example;  at my advancing age, I can remember like it was yesterday what happened 80 years ago, but often I can’t remember exactly something that happened yesterday!

So as I notice on the calendar that this week is the Spring Equinox, a rough balancing point in the seasons, I think again on balance.  From years of riding bicycles to years of studying spiritual traditions, I know that maintaining balance between extremes is essential to getting anywhere.  And I know that that balance, on a bike or otherwise, is a continuously wobbly thing.  There are few straight lines in nature, and keeping an organic sort of flow in my life as I look toward balance, toward the “center of the ever-turning wheel,”  is my constant challenge.

I have no answers to any of the big questions we are facing. I feel and acknowledge the pain and suffering and injustice and just plain misery that is everywhere, and I long to make it right, even as I deal with it within myself.  It feels overwhelming and disorienting much of the time, as I and others say, “I just don’t know what else to do.”

But this I do know–when I get really animated in a negative way, I am definitely out of balance, and it behooves me to give it a rest.  Somewhere in that center, I know, there is certainly compassion for all, acknowledgement of the good in all. Holding to that, I continue to wobble along, with a walker instead of a bike, but here I go, with everything in my heart today.

Today at Earthsprings, the dogwoods and azaleas and the tiny spring beauties are glorious; the hawks and any number of birds are singing a chorus of sounds that fill my spirit with joy and appreciation and gratitude. Tonight the hard freeze may blast all the blooms, but for this moment, right now, I take time to say “Hello, hello, again!  I see you! Thank you!” to another precious day in the life of planet Earth!

With deep respect, Glenda Taylor