Shifting Sands
by Rev. Lane Williams
As we begin the summer season my thoughts turn to beaches, playing at the shore, exploring tide pools and all that. Spending time in nature, in the sunshine, barbecuing, and camping - all these make life so wonderful. And here in New England we must make the most of it for winter comes all too soon. I notice there’s a flurry of activity in most people’s lives. We have lots of energy, vim and vigor. We have emerged from our hibernating dens ready and willing to live, live, live! We have high hopes and many plans. No one and nothing can stop us now!
But life is about change. Impermanence is the true reality. Just as the seasons change so do life conditions. We prosper, we experience lack; we enjoy health, we become ill; we fall in love, we end relationships. We expect things to continue, to last just as they are. Is this not the human condition? We delightful beings believe that the world will go according to our plans. We scurry about preparing for the best, fully expecting that this is how it will unfold – as we have planned it. Then when something goes amiss, we get angry. We raise our fists to the skies, it isn’t fair! I don’t deserve this. We then suffer as we resist what is.
Our mistake is in thinking that the world is unchanging. We build our castles on what appears to be solid ground when it is in fact upon the uncertain shifting sands of change that all life unfolds. When we can embrace change as part of the principle of harmony, our suffering ends. When we realize that all experiences in life are both pleasurable and painful, we have lifted ourselves above the suffering. For isn’t birth both painful and exhilarating, death both tragic and transforming, beginning and ending relationships both joyous and wonderful and miserably painful? Pain and pleasure are inseparable. We want to get rid of the misery and enjoy the pleasurable, but there are gifts in all events in life. With only pleasure we might become arrogant and self-centered. Feeling wretched humbles us, opens our hearts and develops deep wells of compassion for others.
There is a way out of this endless cycle of suffering. Being present in the moment instead of worrying about the future and regretting the past can bring you peace. When we are fully present, we are with people giving them our full attention. We are allowing what is, to be. We are enfolded in the flow of life and all is well. There is no agenda, no mission to accomplish. We are just Being and as we are, everyone else is too; all become present. There is joy and satisfaction. There is a field of spacious-ness, a sense of lightness and well-being. This doesn’t mean that you neglect whatever transaction may be in process, but the most important event is the Being-ness. The ends and the means are the same. When we become comfortable with life’s uncertainty, infinite possibilities open to us. We tap into the wisdom of the universe. The shifting sands become our friends and teachers.
