It's Music that Keeps Us Alive

I am returning from a long weekend away.  Without knowing, it turned out to be a very long awaited journey that I am calling, "Sailing Home to Self".  On this unexpected trip, many things I acquired in my mind, and especially my ego along the professional pathway of life, were washed clean and carried out with the tide.  As a requirement for this trip, I re-examined the very materials of the boat I will need to travel.  Some of the materials are sound, but some needed replacing.  I realized the need to  "Rebuild a Humble Heart" as the foundation for this expedition.  The chorus of a song I heard this weekend entitled "Low to the Ground" by Libby Roderick, articulates some of the treasures I have reclaimed as I set sail on this astonishing voyage.

It's music that keeps us alive, it's dancing that sets our hearts free

It's children remember the laughter in life, it's animals teach us to see

Stay low to  the ground, live close to the earth, don't stray very far from your soul

It's simple things show us the reason we're here and it's simple things keeping us whole.

I will no doubt continue traveling home to self as I enter more fully into this afternoon of my life.  I am filled with gratitude that I made it to the ship.  In this time of Thanksgiving, I end with a Prayer of Gratitude given to me at the end of my weekend.

We are grateful for eyes that can see and ponder, for taste buds that know the sensuous pleasures of eating and drinking, for hands that hold and touch and feel, for ears that can delight in music and the voice of a friend, for a nose that can smell the aroma of newly mown grass or delicious food, and can also breathe the air that gives us life.

We are grateful for the treasure of loved ones whose hearts of open-ness and acceptance have encouraged us to be who we are.  We are grateful for their faithfulness, for standing by us when our weak-nesses stood out glaringly, for being there when we were most in need and for delighting with us in our good days and our joyful seasons.

We are grateful for the eyes of faith, for believing in the presence of God, giving us hope in our darkest days, encouraging us to listen to our spirit's hunger, and reminding us to trust in the blessings of God's presence in our most empty days.

We are grateful for the ongoing process of becoming who we are, for the seasons within, for the great adventure of life that challenges and comforts us at one and the same time.

We are grateful for the messengers of God - people, events, written or spoken words - that came to us at just the right time and helped us to grow.

We are grateful for God calling us to work with our gifts, grateful that we can be of service and use our talents in a responsible and just way.

We are grateful that we have the basic necessities of life, that we have the means and the ability to hear the cries of the poor and to respond with our abundance.

We are grateful for the miracle of life, for the green of our Earth, for the amazing grace of our history; we are grateful that we still have time to decide the fate of the world by our choices and our actions, grateful that we have [the hope] to bring a divided world to peace.