What is truest is that we are all called to recognize, surrender to, and ultimately be identified with the mystery of God utterly beyond all concepts, all words, all designations whatsoever…. What’s more, we are to realize that this boundless, birthless, deathless mystery of God is manifesting itself and giving itself to us completely in every breath and heartbeat…. If we could really experience all that we really are sitting here right now, just the way we are, we’d all experience God loving us into our chair, loving us into the present moment, breath by breath, heartbeat by heartbeat. And we would then bear witness to that realization by the way we treat ourselves, the way we treat others, the way we treat all living things. This is the way, this is the great way…  Thomas Merton

Opening reflection chosen and read by Nancy L.

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“Boundless” — low tide, surrounded, encompassed in fog with sun starting to glow through. Boundaries are blurred to non-existence. Water line disappears with no horizon. Boundless but surrounded. Colors are a grayscale like looking out on a black and white video which seems to amplify the sounds.  Magically, slowly, the fog is starting to scale up revealing hints of vast blue sky. Color starting to silently replace the grayscape. Boundless….   A warm recognition that I have been totally blissfully lost in this surrounded boundless space.  

Reflection by Sue J.

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As I stood looking at the ocean I felt safe and loved- bathed in God’s love as wave after wave came toward me. If I looked to my left or right all I saw was the fog and mist- the unknown and unseen- yet I was not afraid- I knew God was all around me – I was where I was meant to be – God was “loving me into my chair” accepting me for who I was at that moment – His perfect creation – present and part of the miracle of creation.

Photos and reflection by Bonnie L.

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All the suffering, the hope, the craziness, the joy–how do I hold it all in love? At the start of my walk, I see a tree bent by the wind, having adapted to the elements, but still standing, rooted. A few minutes later, I see a large tree with its branches like arms spread wide, as if protecting what is below it. It stands strong, rooted. Still later, I see a tree with a missing main branch, perhaps to a storm. It too stands, rooted, the evidence of loss and destruction lying at its feet. An answer to my initial question: In the face of what comes, I can bend, stretch and protect, grieve, and still remain standing, if I know I have strong roots.  

Another learning from my walk: if you try to make your way off the established path, prepare to meet tangles, prickly vines that grab at you. The thorned and the smooth grow together; they are hard to separate. It takes slowing down, seeing things as they are, rearranging carefully. It is work to clear the space for passage.

Photos and reflection by Amy W.

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To fling my arms wide
In some place of the sun,
To whirl and to dance
Till the white day is done.
Then rest at cool evening
Beneath a tall tree
While night comes on gently,
Dark like me-
That is my dream!

To fling my arms wide
In the face of the sun,
Dance! Whirl! Whirl!
Till the quick day is done.
Rest at pale evening…
A tall, slim tree…
Night coming tenderly
Black Like Me.
–Langston Hughes

Poem chosen and read by Dottie D.

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I was enveloped and caressed by the fog — quiet mystery all around. The foggy air on the beach was cool and slightly wet on my face… the ocean roaring within the silence and peace. The fog was helping me to be right here, right now… breath by breath, heartbeat by heartbeat…  The sun was trying to peak through, but I was deeply grateful that the mystery and unknown of the fog continued to endure for just a short while.

As I walked south at the edge of the waves, the reflection of the sun (by my side and just a foot or so in front of me) in the shallow water on the beach  guided and led me forward. And as I turned around and headed north, the sun’s reflection stayed by my side, now trailing me by a foot or so. I felt that God was by my side… sometimes leading me, sometimes following me… but always  loving me into my chair, loving me into the present moment.   

Photos and reflection by Nancy L.

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