#MicroPoetry|April ’20 Reflections

Gluttony: an old and ancient temptation that finds balance when we take time to remember what a feast is. It is not lots of stuff, though it certainly is about abundance. It is not about gorging ourselves, though often the ritual leaves us sated. A feast is a communal ritual in which we pause for special milestones and reasons to gather in order to recognise that life is sacred. This sacred ritual, therefore, is an act that points beyond us to our holy connexion with creation. We are not separate from the universe, we are intrinsically threaded as part of a consciousness that longs to awaken.

The interior and exterior being are often the focus of the spiritual journey. Many mystics explore this by asking questions that explore reality.

What is reality?
Does it begin by what we experience beyond ourselves or does the interior perspective determine the worlds we see?
Do we create reality?

This verse explores this old and ancient wrestling with the power our choices have in shaping what we experience

They did this to me …
It wasn’t my fault …
I never had a chance …
The odds are stacked against us …

These are often true, and experience too often bears out that people are marginalised by stereotyping and systems intent on oppression. But that is only part of the story – liberation begins in recognising we are intrinsically agents of our own making. We can accept and internalise stories that define us, or we can choose another route.

Strength.

It’s a fascinating construct. What we mean can often be assumed to imply how much we can carry, what we can bench or lift. These are certainly aspects of it.

Connected, but beyond the simply physical, is the idea of what might complement virtues such as integrity, authenticity or fortitude. Sometimes, lifting a great weight pales in comparison to making a choice that would be easier to avoid.

What does challenge mean to you?
What are the limitations you experience or have imposed upon you?

Sometimes these are spiritual, personal and/or physical. It is romantic to think that all challenges can be overcome or that some limitations will fall away. That having been said, there is much to be learned from the discipline of practice and focus, of imagination and creativity. This musing invites us to explore these two companions – limits and challenges – in a manner that might lead to ways to explore boundaries as an opportunity to grow.

The impossible, improbable and unlikely are words that bind us to what is. They are not inappropriate or unhelpful ways to define what seems that which might be and that which cannot. But words are funny things. Though they can be used to bar us from acting, they can serve as a question: if something seems impossible if you do it this way, what might happen if we did another way?

Conventional thinking and innovation often begin with reframing a boundary into a possibility. This verse plays with that possibility of looking beyond what cannot be …

Water and the spiritual journey. These are not uncommon companions when trying to find ways to explore that in life all opportunities are teachers. Often is it not in the calm moments that allow us space for gratitude, but those that challenge. How we respond in the moment certainly is important. Just as, if not more, is what we do as we learn from turbulent times in order to find ways to be more present when they again return.

Winning and success are mantras often associated with profit and loss, sports, and competition. Often, they imply a loser and a winner and too often those who ‘win’ continue to benefit from those who do not.

This musing engages this ‘normal’ framing. Until we know why winning is important, until we know how we all stand to succeed, then doing so at the expense of others must lead us to questions. Such questioning allows us to explore what is important in the outcomes that affect a few at the cost of the many.