STEPPING OUT ON THE FRONT PORCH

Every morning I step out onto my front porch, sit down on my rocking chair, and rock … pausing to take a sip of coffee or tea. I lift my face, soften my gaze, and sense/feel the morning. I stretch my hearing, listening for, and to the birds, trying to differentiate the different melodies. I smile at the amazing avian communication network you can hear if you pay attention, each bird with its own distinctive song in counterpoint to each other. I breathe as I feel the soft breezes gently waft across my face. I lift my cup and take a sip. I breathe … I listen … I wait.

The neighborhood walkers’ morning parade begins, consciously unconscious, some leashed to a four-legged companion and a phone, others just to a phone, earplugs blanking out the outside world, counting steps, counting minutes … missing life. Many wave as they pass by. Others keep their faces straight ahead, or down, keeping themselves alone and constricted within their own self-perceived safe boundaries. I bless them all as they parade by.

I take a sip of my coffee, and the thought arises: what if we ambled instead of walking, counting steps and minutes? Ambling has such a feel of adventure about it! Who knows what we may find when we walk for the purpose of adventuring instead of counting steps and minutes? Who knows what we may find … or what may find us? To see with new eyes, the eyes of a child, where even a crack on a sidewalk, a worm after a spring rain, or the stars in the night sky, are all something new, every time! Come! Let us celebrate the changes within ourselves, as we celebrate the changes we see around us. What would that feel like? To celebrate instead of bemoaning the passage of days? Of life?

Ambling, just like rocking on the porch, allows the Song of the Universe to send snippets of its Song, dancing bits of melodies, down like grace notes to play with our hearts and souls. To draw colorful scenes upon our palettes of everyday busyness, so that we can take a break and rest … and breathe … and start to understand that Life is more than counting steps and minutes. Life is the energy of the Divine all around us which breathes in, through, and as us. All we have to do is sit in a rocking chair every day and sip a cup of tea, or amble, and surrender to the adventure. You don’t have to go looking for it. It is seeking you … and …

it will find you.

Something to Ponder:

҉ What does surrendering mean to you? 

҉ Can you allow yourself to settle down into the breath? 

҉ Once you settle down into the breath, can you allow yourself to just amble, to just take a walk without anywhere in particular to get to? Can you allow yourself to surrender to the adventure?

Something to Practice:

Sit in a comfortable position, close your eyes, and take a few calming and relaxing breaths. Practice breathing from your belly. Relax and settle into the breath.

Put your attention on your heart space. Imagine a Divine Flame there. Allow yourself now to settle down into the center of that Flame . . . to relax back into the center within the center within the center. Breathe.

As thoughts come up, just observe them in an “isn’t that interesting?” mode. Release everything to the Divine Flame. Imagine it transformed into bright Light. 

Breathe . . . Breathe . . . Breathe.

Dr Melissa is an ordained Religious Science and Interfaith Minister and member of the Affiliated New Thought Network. Melissa is Emerson Institutes director of education services teaching and developing curricula for Emerson Institute

www.revmissyministry.com