 This is probably the Brietenbush River in Oregon, but I could be mistaken... in any case, I thought I'd share the energy...
photo ©2013 Rev. David Seacord
Everyman's WEEKLY Journal #49
© 2013 Rev. David Seacord
November 10, 2013
Practicing 'Thank you'...
Miraculous synchronicity is a welcome perfect answer to the doubting mind. For me, I usually just say 'Thank you' (meaning, to God, for the reminder) when they happen. Yesterday I had a couple of them, back to back, in the checkout line of an Albuquerque fruit & veggie stand….
The woman in front of me waiting her turn to checkout was 'amply endowed with nutritional reserves', and I could feel the attraction she was feeling to the delicious smelling display of freshly bagged homemade pastries that we were standing beside. Her hand reached over to them and she fondled one lightly, then setting it down, she did the same to a slightly different kind. I found myself praying silently that she have the clarity to choose from her highest best interest. A moment later she put the last one down, and stepped forward in the line, away from the pastries.
I spoke… "Sometimes it's pretty hard to resist the temptations all around us…". She turned around and looked at me and I smiled. She smiled back. "It takes discipline", I added. She said… "You're so right…. but I don't have any (meaning discipline)". "You won that time", I noted. "Yes, sometimes I do", she said. "I said a little pray for you…", I admitted. She smiled again and said, "Thank you, I need that kind of help…". I said "Lots of raw food helps too". She said, "I know… My husband got well eating raw food"…
As she checked out, I volunteered a couple of easy recipes. "Thanks", she said, "I will try them…". We smiled goodbye, and it was my turn to check out. I had noticed that the young adult woman cashier had been listening, and so I stepped into the relatedness space that that had created. We bantered for a few seconds, then she asked with sincere interest how I was doing. I told her I was working hard tuning about 6 pianos a day for the last several weeks. As she was empathizing with my labors, the man in line behind me started speaking….
"Hey, I have an old piano I'd like to give away…". I turned to him, listening, and into my mind rose the memory of a conversation I'd had three days before with a church janitor who had 'been friendly' as I worked tuning in his building. One thing he'd shared was that he had a 14 year old daughter who was 'real good' on the piano, but that the piano they had was in terrible shape, and the daughter was begging them to get her a better one. He had even given me his phone number 'in case you happen to hear of one'.
I told the man in line behind me that I might know who he could give the piano to, and after I'd finished paying for my purchases, I went to my car and retrieved the janitors number and happily passed it on to him... with the prayer that an unknown 14 year old girl receives a playable piano ….
God willing and we willing equals miracles in abundance. And the thing was… the vege stand had been 'a couple of minutes out the the way' to drive to, and I had 'been in a hurry' and I had almost (self-willfully) resisted the download to go there…. thinking many "I, I, I, I" rational reasons why not to. So my lesson? Continue to delete my 'I'. And keep saying "Thank you".
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There is a man named Scott that has been in my life for a couple of decades. I don't know him well on a personal level--- we've never spent any extended time together--- but he's notable to me as a kind of marker because his appearances are kind of a wild card thing…ie, they're not geographically bound. What I mean is, I know he 'lives' in Santa Fe so it's normal that I would run across him there, but over the years I also have run across him many times in various other places throughout the western United States, like out in the middle of Oregon, or Arizona, or Montana. This has been going on for years--- that out of the blue, there he will be, doing his thing exactly where I also happen to be, doing my thing.
Our pattern that we have evolved whenever we see each other synchronistically like this is to sit down and have a check in with each other. So that is what we did in an Albuquerque Whole Foods Market the other night as I was waiting for my turn with the chair massage therapist after my workday. And after we had shared the more superficial stuff on the top of our share lists with each other, I made the comment "but you know what is really important right now is what is happening over in Fukushima… that is what is really important… for the future of life on this planet…". And in response, Scott opened his mouth and spoke a most beautiful satsang…
He said, "You know, Hitler had the war won. He was invincible… he'd conquered everything in his path… all his opposition was in shambles… all that was needed was the final kill stroke and it would have been over (and we'd be all living in a completely different world now as a result) but for some divine and unknown reason, he suddenly hesitated and pulled back. His generals were furious and privately called him insane. But they obeyed his orders. And that was the space needed for the Allies to regroup, for the Russian winter to arrive, for the USA to enter the war--- all things that eventually led to the Nazi defeat….
And this is not the only time that some unknown and unpredictable force or power has intervened in the course of human affairs… our history is full of such times… times when humanity was doomed…. and yet we are still here. So while I agree that Fukushima is an exceedingly perilous situation, and the kind of internationally aware and fully responsible response that some are calling for is exactly appropriate, I also remember the stream of miracles that have allowed our species to survive to this point, and I remember that the truth is WE ARE LOVED BEYOND MEASURE."
It was exactly what I needed to hear at that moment to return to my peace. Again, another 'Thank you'.
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I have found myself contemplating my gratitudes a lot of late, particularly in relation to having the skill of piano tuning. I love being a fine art painter and the exciting labors of love that create my finished canvases… and I love sharing them with my collectors and receiving their appreciation… but there is also something very wonderful about the fact that once a year I re-don the cloth of being a simple working craftsman… a piano tuner… and re-enter the street-level world of 'the common workingman' for a month. The Zen teaching 'to see all things equally' fits so perfectly here… to not allow oneself to become so self-exalted by our successes that we forget that we also have had our many failures… to continue to learn the lessons of deepening humility… these are the gifts I find myself grateful for as I labor.
And I am grateful that I am almost done with the month… I'll be finishing the remaining work this coming week and look forward to returning to warmer climates for a breather and some time in my painting studio---before an early December journey northward to Portland to welcome my about to arrive Godson into this world, and now, also synchronistically, to assist my own son to move back to Yuma with me for a few exciting and co-creative months. Also on that journey I will visit a certain California courthouse and enter a Not Guilty plea, and have a court date to go to trial set for my 'no camping' citation of last August. I know I have not been writing much about this but it does still exist as a learning experience waiting for me, and I am beginning to feel prepared enough for it that I sometimes laugh aloud as I imagine my courtroom presentation working to unravel the insanity of our legal-fictional world. I hope you all will buy your tickets quick… hahaha… as soon as they go on sale… :-)
Many blessings to each of you this week… may we all remember the gifts we are constantly receiving, and our heart's continual Thank you.
Namaste, & Sat Nam,
David
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Addition links to other writings etc:
Rev. David Seacord
Fine Art Painter / Sufi Cherag
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