Things We Carry On Our Journey

 

By now, our pack is heavy, with all we are carrying. We bend under the weight, but we cannot let any of it go, and remain a person with a human heart.

We carry earth-grief, for how we have treated the earth, and for how, in her distress, the earth is letting us know we need to change.

We carry broken hearts, for how inhumanely man lives with man: for wars, for bombs falling, for terrified people being displaced, injured, starved and killed.

We carry distress and compassion for the many non-human beings who are silently suffering, dying and growing extinct on our watch.

We carry outrage, our sense of justice unable to comprehend the outrageous behaviour of deranged "leaders", who would annihilate the world to prove they are the strongest. And those who enable and fanatically support them, against all reason.

We carry memories of earlier years when, in our innocence, the world felt like a safe place. We mourn for that lost time,  and that gentler, kinder earth.

We carry small joys - spring blossoms, the loving eyes of dogs, a cup of coffee imbibed sitting in the sun - for the two eagles drifting on the wind curents, circling overhead in early afternoon - for those deep delights and everyday gifts and comforts that remind us that, in the midst of global horrors, life is good, right here, right now, and we must never take it for granted, because, in a single instant, everything can change.

We carry gratitude - for the journey, for the many gifts, both given and received, for the spirit guides who helped us along the way; gratitude, for the beauty and generosity of the natural world, for those trying to heal and save it, for the gift of life - this day, sun-blessed and peaceful, this moment, my heart saying  a silent "Thank You" to Whoever is listening.