Theme/Mantra: “There is still a lot of love”
Reading:
The State of the Economy by Louis Jenkins
There might be some change on top of the dresser at the back, and
we should check the washer and the dryer. Check under the floor
Mats of the car. The couch cushions. I have some books and CDs
I could sell, and there are a couple of big bags of aluminum cans in
the basement, only trouble is that there isn’t enough gas in the car
to get around the block. I’m expecting a check sometime next
week, which, if we are careful will get us through to payday. In
the meantime with your one-dollar rebate check and a few coins
we have enough to walk to the store and buy a quart of milk and a
newspaper. On second thought, forget the newspaper.
Meditation:
Complete Breath
This breath can be done in a comfortable sitting position, or lying down flat on your back with your arms down to your side, palm facing up.
Relax and close your eyes.
Exhale completely.
Inhale slowly and deeply through your nose.
Allow your stomach to expand like a balloon.
Pull in your breath, filling your chest and lungs.
Hold your breath, exhale slowly through your nose, squeezing out all the stale air.
If you wish, count to maintain your rhythm.
Inhale for the count of 5, hold your breath for 15, then exhale for the count of 10.
Repeat 5 times.
As you do this practice of breathing, hold the words “I drink deeply from the well of life.”
Physical Movement:
Sitting Forward Bend & (If you are ambitious) Full Shoulderstand
Sit erect with your legs straight, your pelvis tipped forward and feet perpendicular to your legs.
Inhale, raise your arms straight ahead: exhale, stretch forward and down.
Keep your back straight.
Place your hands comfortably under your legs, whether under your knees, calves, or ankles.
Relax, allowing your chest to sink toward your thighs without arching your back.
Look forward and out.
Breathe softly. Don’t strain your body.
Now roll back until you are fully lying on your back with your arms by your side, palms down.
Align your body.
Place a folded blanket (two inches thick) under your neck and shoulders. (optional)
Bend your knees and roll your hips, lifting them up over your shoulders.
Use your hands to support your back at the waist.
Extend your legs up. Bring your hands higher on your back and move your elbows closer together.
Stretch your legs, straighten your back.
Don’t move your head.
Hold for a few minutes.
Release slowly by bending your legs and rolling back down.
Reflection:
What I keep hearing from folks- and seeing in faces throughout my day is that life is really tough right now. For people at all levels. The poem above and the song below capture this idea in different ways. Farmers losing their fields. Folks not having money to buy groceries. Unhealed hurts. Unhealed bodies. Global Pandemics. War. Goddess have mercy- life is really tough. It can be so hard to figure out how to endure- how to stay positive. How to hope for a future.
I think Nancy gets it though.
There’s still a lotta love.
Where? Where is your love? How do you know you are loved? And if you don’t, can you at least see love in the world around you? In the natural world?
I guess Nancy has a loose definition for the word “love.” She says there is still love IN the troubled fields. Suggesting that love can cause the crops to grow and come to harvest. I know the sunshine and rain has something to do with that too- but I’ll take the love as being a big component.
So I guess the question each of us has to ask ourselves is- what is the sun and what is the rain that will bring love to the troubled field of my life?
May we tap into that love today. May I. May you.
Song: Trouble in the Fields by Nancy Griffith
Lyrics:
Baby I know that we've got trouble in the fields
When the bankers swarm like locust out there turning away our yield
The trains roll by our silos, silver in the rain
They leave our pockets full of nothing
But our dreams and the golden grain
Have you seen the folks in line downtown at the station
They're all buying their ticket out and talking the great depression
Our parents had their hard times fifty years ago
When they stood out in these empty fields in dust as deep as snow
And all this trouble in our fields
If this rain can fall, these wounds can heal
They'll never take our native soil
But if we sell that new John Deere
And then we'll work these crops with sweat and tears
You'll be the mule I'll be the plow
Come harvest time we'll work it out
There's still a lotta love, here in these troubled fields
There's a book up on the shelf about the dust bowl days
And there's a little bit of you and a little bit of me
In the photos on every page
Now our children live in the city and they rest upon our shoulders
They never want the rain to fall or the weather to get colder
And all this trouble in our fields
If this rain can fall, these wounds can heal
They'll never take our native soil
But if we sell that new John Deere
And then we'll work these crops with sweat and tears
You'll be the mule I'll be the plow
Come harvest time we'll work it out
There's still a lotta love, here in these troubled fields
You'll be the mule I'll be the plow
Come harvest time we'll work it out
There's still a lotta love, here in these troubled fields
Until Tomorrow- Peace
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