A Summer Oasis

Four hours of total relaxation in the beautiful water garden of Betsy and Frank Aylin’s home. I don’t recall the last time I was so embraced by the beauty, variety and spaciousness of such leisure. In that spaciousness I could hear resolutions to questions that I have been pondering. I felt freedom from the consequences of life choices I have made. I came to understand experientially another invitation to contemplative living. We so often think it is about a practice or a method. And while those may help support us in living, it is truly more an awareness of the Divine with all the daily moments, events, and encounters of life. It is a faith-filled response to love that has no conditions. It is an awareness of being loved beyond any words or imaginations.

We could not stay in that glorious space beyond our time. There is a life that calls each of us to take the giftedness of that time and space and respond to the life that awaits us. Each of us left with gratitude. For me, a sense of peace and centeredness out of which I now choose to live propels me. Truly the ‘Summer Oasis’ was a pause that refreshed me and those who joined me Saturday.