Forecast for Tuesday: The Second Wondrous Place
There was only one word for Tuesday: Rain. Rain with potential flooding- AGAIN. The word flooding made me anxious as I watched the water flow down paved hills over saturated ground and the driveways of empty houses. A small trickle of water leaked through the car window overnight, leaving the driver’s seat “deceptively damp”-and I emerged from the car with the back side of my pants wet. The day had just begun as I walked at a swift pace among glistening yellow red and orange leaves against blackened tree trunks. My thoughts as well as my muscles contracting around the damp cold. I escape in thoughts of home, a good book and hot chamomile tea.
Only one word for Tuesday: Water. The water in her eyes as she tells me how close she feels to God right now and everything she ever wanted is in the palm of her hands. The water in my eyes I did not let her see. Water blowing sideways soaking the front side of my pants, beading my face with heavy droplets, labelling my umbrella useless. I kept my head low looking down at my feet on the wet pavement. When I finally looked up a woman was staring at me from a storefront window. There is a sense of urgency on her face. She is transparent. For a moment I did not recognize myself. I thought I was much younger….. Wake up. Wake up. The wheel of the Dharma is turning.
We are born into a world of trouble. Buddhist ironically claim that this world of trouble is the second wondrous place of protection. How can that be? How can trouble be a place of protection? It is in this world of trouble that we learn wisdom, compassion and the value of the present moment. It is in the world of trouble that we learn that pain is inevitable, but suffering is a choice. Happiness and peace measure themselves against it. In this world of aggression there is non-aggression all around us and Spirit is constantly providing a witness for itself in beauty. Trouble or the threat of trouble wakes us up and maybe just maybe we in the very heart of it there will be a shift in our perception and we will feel the peace beyond all understanding somewhere in the stillness inside of us.
