Grace in the Clearing – Chuck Fondse

Fall in Meadow - Linda Atwater

Grace is there for the asking 

Tall Weeds choke the way 

Arms thrashing through the weeds 

Trying to get to the clearing. 

The clearing appears 

Meadow, beauty, open air 

Sense the air in my lungs. 

Fresh, crisp, life giving. 

No more weeds 

No more thrashing 

No more cut arms 

Clear freedom 

Until it is not.  

Rocks in the meadow 

Just below the short grass 

Not seen.  

First trip: 

Oh damn  

I did not see it 

Second trip 

What is this shit 

Who put that there? 

Third trip.  

I sit down, 

Despondent 

Wondering. 

Will this ever get smooth  

Ever? Ever? 

Grace is there for the asking. 

Not smooth but 3-D,  

There to trip me? 

Deep crevasses, 

Big rocks, breaking down 

To little rocks in the meadow 

That make beauty real.  

May these offerings be in service to the end of suffering for all beings, throughout all times, and in all directions throughout the cosmos.

Practice

The Sangha of the Pandemic offers several opportunities for a safe, inclusive, free, virtual community contemplative practice. Everyone is welcome regardless of meditation experience or spiritual lineage.

The Zoom link is:  

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89989680789

Mondays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays: 6 AM PacificTime

Monday: calm abiding, Samatha, Tuesday: body awareness, Thursday: Tonglen

Sunday at 7 AM Pacific Time: Four Brahmaviharas

and

Monday and Thursday evenings at 4:30 PM Pacific Time : Practice and Inquiry       

Please feel free to forward this email and any posts from our website at:

Sangha of the Pandemic