Like a Springtime garden, our days often overflow with the wildness of life. Daily new blooms are revealed in brilliantly colored moments when each new encounter brings us into contact with diverse textures. We absorb the wildness of life as long as we can before we perceive a need to move toward stillness and peace. Often times moving toward stillness because of sheer exhaustion.
The landscape of our lives always includes an open gate. A way to move from the ever flowing and changing stream of life, into the stillness and fullness of Presence.
How often do you walk through the open gate that delivers you to Presence?
We don’t have to wait for eternal life to happen, eternal life is available now. Rather than packing each day with movement, schedule time in each day for stillness. Open yourself to Presence. It is a fearful thing at first, taking ten minutes in silence each day. We resist moments that appear empty, rather filling silences with words, thoughts and activities.
Here is how I walk through the open gate to Presence. I have a comfortable chair where I can sit without being interrupted. I keep an empty pad of paper beside me to write the chatter, “wash the dishes in the sink, buy some laundry detergent, call the office, send that birthday card…” You know that kind of chatter. After writing it down, I let it go. I center my thoughts on my breathing, letting my breath rise and fall naturally. And I simply rest. Sometimes, I imagine myself being carried or held in the moment.
Just ten minutes a day helps me to encounter Presence. Because the gate is open, I can return again and again.
Enter into the peace of Presence, now. It is your choice.
Janet Salbert 