Ripples of time

Yesterday I was up a mountain gazing down at the world spread all around. At my feet was a stone with the ripples of water from some forgotten beach forever frozen there. This impossibly ancient earth had breathed and sighed and heaved some aeons ago and over deep, long expanses of ego-crumbling time what was low became high and what was great became small. What does one do when faced by the impassive eyes of eternity except contemplate one’s own life and the tiny, vibrant, astounding window of time that we have been granted. All kinds of wonderful creatures have been and gone from the surface of this planet - great woolly elephants, tiny exquisite flowers, Neanderthals and giant fern trees – all have had their time as the great wheel turned and the sun fell upon their faces. They were blessed with breath and water and light for an instant before leaving this playground forever. And the earth turned and the stars burned and anything that grieved the loss was also lost along with the grief they carried. This bright flash of humanity, this soap bubble world of dreams and longings and delusions of grandeur will go dark soon enough. No need to fear, I tell myself, you are no more than those who went before, if it breaks and our greed and the hands of time drag us back into the darkness from which we came then who am I to stand and wail for all that may be lost? But philosophy, palaeontology and perspective are no fucking help whatsoever when I look at my children learning rules from a culture bent on careless destruction (not destroying with intent but rather with eyes that are dulled by strange needs, wants and dreams that we know will be our undoing but somehow we are powerless to change) or as I watch one species after another let go their place and fall away into the void of history. Not now, not like this – quietly suffocated by the plastic of our foolishness. The little I have seen of death has not been a quiet closing of the eyes and deep out-breath of acceptance. It has been painful and ugly and difficult. Peace at the last but the road to that final letting go was paved with tears. They did not want to surrender the portion of the light that was given to them. Let us not go quietly into the night destroyed by a culture that we don’t know how to change, watching the jewel of the sacred earth go dark facet by facet, species by species. Let’s not blind our selves with spiritual platitudes and the simple joy of existence, let’s not be paralysed by the growing gulf between where we are and where we want to be. Hopelessness is as destructive as greed. Sow faith in the fertile ground of the gap, sow trust. Open your eyes to where we are and spread your chest wide and walk forwards into that future. Now is not the time to be dragged backwards towards death, clawing at what has been and what we think we can become. Stand up, breathe the heartbreak, watch the polar bears starve and the turtles try to eat plastic. Never give up. Eyes bright, chest open, feet on the good earth. Take home what is whole, the endless resource of spirit, the never-ending sky of bright awareness. Drink from the waters and the clouds, roll around in the ferns and moss, trek with the elephants through dust and sunlight. Be honest, get your cards on the table, your own and those of the human world of dreams. See what is broken and embrace what is whole for wherever we are going we need to go with dignity and integrity. Be as kind as you can, walk well on your road to certain annihilation so that when your end comes, as it surely must, and you meet the lion of light who waits for us all you will stand in the light that sees all with quiet nobility and grace. I share this earth with astounding people, warriors and healers, children and holy fools. I share this earth with the mice and the eagles and the monkeys. I share this earth with you. There is more love here than you can possibly imagine. Soften and rise up. Weep and let joy fill every cell. Look time in the eye and smile for there is no place else to rest but here.