WE HAVE SUN

As the Sun was coming up, I was doing the crossword puzzle and drinking a cup of coffee. For a reason, I don't remember now, I stood up and looked out the window. There, prancing around in front of the new chicken coop, was a hen, she must have been locked out all night. I went outside in just a t-shirt and sheepskin slippers*; I opened the door and tried to coax her into the coop. She had other ideas; after dodging me a few times, she ran into a large lilac bush and I couldn't chase her out. At that point Jamie drove in the driveway [she had taken Elijah to school]. First thing she said was, "Are you having a stroke or something standing out here without a jacket?" She heard me say something and she said, "Who are you talking to?" I said, "I am talking to a chicken".

She helped me chase the hen out of the lilac bush. I was able to catch the hen against a fence. She didn't seem the least for wear after being out all night. I tossed her in with the other chickens. Last night when I closed up the coop, I noticed the little door, that the chickens go in and out of, was almost closed. The door is right at the end of the roost and a chicken must have banged into it. At least, that is my best guess as to how she got locked out. We will have to find a way to fasten it open.

Chickens survive cold very well. It was 10 degrees F when I was out there this morning, it may have been a few degrees colder in the night. Surviving our numerous predators is a bigger problem than the cold. Foxes and coyotes patrol our neighborhood most nights; then there are owls, skunks and raccoons. I think the skunks are in a cozy den with their tail over their nose, but I saw a raccoon yesterday. We have never had problems with raccoons eating chickens despite there prevalence in the area, but other people claim they have.

I was remarkably comfortable out there this Morning in a t-shirt. The Sun was out! I don't think we have had bright Sun lately. It is wonderful.

Most of us who have learned something about enlightenment, and are hoping to be enlightened, practice being in the moment. We have learned, that focus on the past, dredges up guilt and other kinds of pain that we can't do anything about anyway. We can only forgive ourselves and others and let the past go. Furthermore, we have learned that focus on the future can bring anxiety and dread. Sure we have desires and we should anticipate their fulfillment. Dream about the future and dream big, but don't dwell there. We can only live in the present.

We create life as we go along. Some of it we create because we haven't relinquished thinking about the past and some we create out of fear of the future. However, even if we are successful in being in the moment most of the time, life has a mind of its own. It comes to us every day fresh and new asking us to acknowledge and live it. It occurs to us that everyone around us is creating and the totality of humanity is creating, we are all one and our moments are much more than just our creation.

We will realize that the totality of our creation is something to celebrate. Now, however, as we practice being in the moment we are sometimes flummoxed by the events of our lives. We wonder, how could this be happening? We need to learn not to fight life as it comes to us day to day. Peace comes from being in the moment and surrendering to it, not fighting it. Of course, we change the things we can. We don't keep our hands on a hot stove. We don't let life push us around. But we don't try to push life around either.

Unless we were raised in an ashram by perfect parents, we were taught we needed to control things. We were taught to think with the part of our brain that controls. Intuitive thinking and leading with the heart were seldom honored. Thinking was primarily fear based. Life was scary and the future unpredictable and we had better be careful.

We are much, much more controlling than we realize. Being in the moment-right now- the eternal present- means giving up control. It means accepting what is. Most of us experience this state only during meditation. When we quit meditating we are back to business as usual. But we make progress. Sometimes it is like wearing away a stone, but we are gradually giving up control and letting life be life.

When we finally accept the universe is love, and it is only our peculiar perception that says otherwise, we will be able to live fully in the moment. Source is Unconditional Love. We are One with Source. We cannot go wrong in surrendering to Love, We cannot go wrong in surrendering to the moment; to life itself.

Love and Peace,  Gregg

*P.S. Yes, I did have pants on. When I reread this [much later], I thought, "could a reader think I had nothing else on but a t-shirt and slippers"? Probably not, but just in case.