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Hints of Gladness
June 1, 2022
When I am among the trees,
especially the willows and the honey locust,
equally the beech, the oaks and the pines,
they give off such hints of gladness.
I would almost say that they save me, and daily.
~ Mary Oliver ~
For 30 days (or more) I’m going to post and talk about the things that give me joy. I'm going to do my best to record hints of gladness especially when I go for my daily walks.
To sustain this, and what will hopefully become a habit, I have to keep it as simple as possible, so I’m not going to write or do anything too elaborate other than to briefly comment on what's making me glad and have a picture or two to go along with it.
Take good care,
~ Rod
P.S. If you'd like to join me, let me know. I would love to have some fellow travellers who are taking note of their hints of gladness. Email rod@hintsofgladness.com
_ _ _
6.1.22
Hints…
The first few moments of entering the trail
are often so special if I can be present and aware.
If I’m in my head, I intentionally ask myself
to use my senses.
What do I hear?
What do I see?
What do I feel?
What do I smell?
Today I see splashes of light streaming through the trees.
I am enveloped by greenery
and it does something indescribable inside me.
The butter cups light up the ground like little yellow flames.
There are small birds fluttering around in the underbrush.
I love the sound of the stream beside the trail.
There were some great questions in the
Richard Rohr's daily devotional this morning.
Here they are...
- Do I dare start fresh and let God, not my coveted image of God, lead the way?
- Do I have the courage to ask if all I believe is the fullest knowledge?
- What might it cost to move from belief to sight?
- And if some of what I’ve passionately held to be true is only the smallest glimpse of something infinitely greater, what would convince me?
- How do we become unafraid to see what we already are?*
*Paula D’Arcy, A New Set of Eyes: Encountering the Hidden God (New York: Crossroad Publishing, 2002), 10–12.
Waiting and trying to see with fresh eyes
can be so difficult, but every time I do it
I know something fresh happens whether
I have an experience, or some sort of insight or not.
It’s one of that doorways to the path of life and wisdom.
It’s pretty magical out here today.
The stillness.
The cool morning air.
The way the light is streaming through the trees.
I didn’t have much hope for this morning
and connecting, but it paid off to just get out here,
wait, and be open as D’Arcy says above.
Am I here now?
Note to self: Be here now.
Surrender.
It's hard to describe spiritual surrender.
It has a certain feeling to it.
When I surrender I let go of my desire for control
and my fear of being found out, or misunderstood.
It feels like an agreement with my higher power.
I agree to let go of my willfulness and my desire
to do things my way.
I let go of self to be open to Self.
I become open to love.
Time to be still…
Ah stillness. It always comes back to stillness.
Returning home…
It feels like I connected with my Center.
I invite you to find the beauty where you live.
And remember it’s not about the beauty.
It’s about being open to the connection.
Hint of gladness evening.
The sound of the stream.
Birdsong. Always birdsong.
I was just saying to Kathleen “I wonder
where the cottonwood is“?
I wonder if it might be slow in arriving this year
because of all of our wet weather,
but now it’s beginning to show up.
The cottonwood is my yearly reminder
to be gentle and go with the flow.
Take good care,
~ Rod
