June 26: A Mile Deep, a Message, a Friend

Santiago is surrounded by beauty . . . 

He could not see the green of the shore now but only the tops of the blue hills that showed white as though they were snow-capped and the clouds that looked like high snow mountains above them. The sea was very dark and the light made prisms in the water. The myriad flecks of the plankton were annulled now by the high sun and it was only the great deep prisms in the blue water that the old man saw now with his lines going straight down into the water that was a mile deep.

Tonight, I received a message from a friend who is facing great struggles.  This person has been paddling a boat in stormy seas for quite some time, and, now, those seas have become even stormier and less predictable.  My friend is trying to navigate this uncertainty with grace and hope for whatever may happen.

This person has always been that bright shaft of sunlight piercing the darkest days.  When Donald Trump was elected, my friend, after wallowing in anger and shock and sadness for a little while, realized the damage following that path for four long years could do.  So, instead, my friend embraced an attitude of harmony and healing, dragging me, kicking and screaming, from that mile-deep 2016 abyss.

That's what this friend has done for me, over and over, during some of the most difficult times of my life.  When I've despaired and given up, my friend has taught me to sing and dance again.  Being brutally stubborn and pessimistic, I need that lesson frequently.

Now, it's my turn.  To point out wild June winds.  Send my friend Bigfoot embraces and energy.  Find those miracle moments that are abundant as dandelions in this world of summer green.  I need to dance and sing for my friend, as my friend has danced and sung for so long and for so many people.

Here is what I'm asking of you, faithful disciples, tonight:  think of something that brings you great joy. Feel the energy of that something,  Hold it in your hands.  Count its heartbeats.  Let it fill you up.  Then, release it like a beautiful red bird.  Send that joy into the universe.  For yourself.  For everyone you know.  

For Saint Marty's friend.