The Listening Bridge by Ingrid Goff-Maidoff

Listen, heart, to the whispering of the World.

That is how it makes love to you. — Rabandranath Tagore

—

When you come to the listening bridge,

you must be still there long enough

for the squirrels to sense you are of no harm;

for the birds to break their silence with singing

and fluttering of wings; and for you,

and everything around you, to stop holding its breath.

and so, sit. Rest a while.

Give some wonder to the moss and purple violets.

—

Turn toward the sun and feel it warm your face.

Notice the rippling current of the spring-fed stream.

Allow a sense of softness to splash and filter in.

Trade the weight of all your seriousness

for the lightness of surrender-

by which I mean faith in a Presence

lovingly wiser than your self.

Remain quiet and listen

for what the voice born of stillness

might say: perhaps, simply:

Love. Carry on. Practice Kindness.

Have affection for this day.

— Opening poem chosen and read by Sue J.

The labyrinth helped me gain new perspectives today.  

Reflecting on the opening poem: I have continued to carry my listening ears through the weekend.  It was my listening ears that heard the SPLASH!! that I thought was a frog jumping into the pond, only to discover this spunky alligator friend instead. The opening poem also reminded me of a daily reading I received this morning:

— March 16 The Meaning of OM 
“OM is the sound of the Cosmic Vibration. The entire cosmos vibrates. Every cell vibrates. In fact, the whole universe is nothing but sound vibrations. The basic vibration is a hum, and the sum total of the universal vibration is also a hum. In between, there are fragments. All the words, all the languages, all the various sounds that are created by the human beings or animals or even machines are smaller parts of this cosmic hum. Without that hum, there is nothing. To denote that cosmic hum, there should be a word. OM is the word that comes closest to representing that cosmic hum. The word OM itself is not the hum. It’s the name of the hum.” — The Golden Present: Daily Inspirational Readings by Sri Swami Satchidananda

— Photos and reflection by Kelly G. S.

Photos by Sue J.

I walked today without expectations of what I would observe as spring is fast approaching – a season of great transition, change, and renewal! And what I found was a garden filled with wonder and joy…

a tree reaching for the sky filled with thousands of tiny seed pods and new green/yellow leaves…

new flowers covered in delicate fallen white petals…

bare branches and fabulous white blooms in union with their brother the sky and their sisters the clouds…

Oh, what a day of wonder… knowing tomorrow will be different, and glorious in its own new way.

— Photos and reflection by Nancy L.