Well, if I needed proof that I have entered a "new stretch of river" (and to those of you who have been following this blog, I am sorry for overusing this metaphor, but it's just working for me!), I found it this morning when I opened up this blog to find that several hundred people have read my blog in the last few days. This is because the great folks at choralevensong.org published a link to the piece I wrote last fall called "Choral Evensong." Please check out the site, particularly if you are planning a trip to the UK, so that you can hear some of the best music in the world.
I've almost relished the relative obscurity of writing to a small audience of a few dozen, probably most of them my friends! When you are used to being invisible, there's a bit of an electric shock when the limelight suddenly shines upon you, even to a small degree. From the perspective of this new stretch of river, I can see how I got used to kind of navigating from safe eddy to safe eddy on the side of the stream, with occasional forays out into the flowing water, only to retreat back into side harbors. My little boat sputtered and sometimes went in circles, but somehow I did manage to make forward movement. I made it to the important "age 60" lock, and have risen to a new stretch of river.
My plans for this new stream are so expansive, I've can't even imagine how on earth I can even make the next step, much less achieve them all. But I'm trying to remind myself, don't look back to the old stretch of river for sustenance on this new stretch. There will be new riches, new forms of abundance, new people, new opportunities. The water is moving quickly here, the landscape is totally different , and I just need to stay present with where I am and where I want to go, not where I have been.
Just a nod to my brother Andrew, today, who was a sailor, as I am in a small way. This metaphor seems to be requiring me to envision myself in a little motorboat, not a sailboat, which goes against all my instincts about impacting the environment! But for now, the loving stream of Divine energy seems to be calling for this "river" image, not the lake one of my childhood experience...in itself, perhaps, proof of entering new territory. Andres, I trust that your new territory includes a really, really huge lake to explore!
Have a great weekend, all!
