This touches me in a new way today! Yesterday I was looking at "street view" for the walking route from our hotel in Santa Fe (in about 10 days from now) to the Plaza, just 5-6 blocks. I was disheartened and uneasy, seeing that most of the route is unshaded sidewalks along unbroken high adobe walls. But now, now I can look at that with new eyes and consider it as an icon. Thank you.
Thanks for this Wint. I try to search for beauty in both urban and wild settings as portals to the sacred. I admit it is much easier for me in the wild and I acknowledge the privilege of safety that being a white male in remote places provides. That said, when I can tune myself in, I can find great beauty in architecture, in the lights of a city, of a flower growing in an unlikely place like the crack of a concrete sidewalk. Thanks for your invitation to join you in your musings of this blog.
Wint - what you describe from Bonnie Smith's book is what I have called engaged spirituality, whereby I look for signs of God and God's call in my walks around urban neighborhoods. Quaker mystic Rufus Jones called the same process "everyday mysticism." I think we are in good company.
The story of the two women uncomfortable in remote places in the woods, reminds me of the different life experiences we have and they marks they leave on our lives going forward.
This touches me in a new way today! Yesterday I was looking at "street view" for the walking route from our hotel in Santa Fe (in about 10 days from now) to the Plaza, just 5-6 blocks. I was disheartened and uneasy, seeing that most of the route is unshaded sidewalks along unbroken high adobe walls. But now, now I can look at that with new eyes and consider it as an icon. Thank you.
Thanks for this Wint. I try to search for beauty in both urban and wild settings as portals to the sacred. I admit it is much easier for me in the wild and I acknowledge the privilege of safety that being a white male in remote places provides. That said, when I can tune myself in, I can find great beauty in architecture, in the lights of a city, of a flower growing in an unlikely place like the crack of a concrete sidewalk. Thanks for your invitation to join you in your musings of this blog.
Yup - that too!
Wint - what you describe from Bonnie Smith's book is what I have called engaged spirituality, whereby I look for signs of God and God's call in my walks around urban neighborhoods. Quaker mystic Rufus Jones called the same process "everyday mysticism." I think we are in good company.
The story of the two women uncomfortable in remote places in the woods, reminds me of the different life experiences we have and they marks they leave on our lives going forward.
I didn’t name you in this post - but you introduced this to me decades ago with ‘noisy contemplation’ too.