Surfacing

2 August 2004
Surfacing
 
The drive out of the Redwoods and into the valley is one that gets more difficult every year.  I know that during my time on the south fork of the Eel River I am a guest of a land that is at times extremely unforgiving.  Yet I leave the woods with great reluctance, having reveled in some of the best nature offers.  I realize that there is something more than just nature’s beauty with soft tender touches of love and exuberance.  I am coming to realize that everything centers on the Presence.  Even the relationships that I thought were the draw are defined by the Spirit.  It isn’t just once, but time and time again in this sacred place.  Yet I do not call this home.
 
Home calls me relentlessly to return.  In surfacing from a time of reflection, nurture, and growth I find that with the transition there is a question that touches not just with one part of my body but the whole.  Some argue that it is only when we are away that we truly know what is real.  Perhaps, but I find that we there is a great lesson in our homes.  God offers to be with us, live in us actually.  We have the opportunity to walk as Divinity would walk.  We can give Divinity our voice, hands, and every sense that is ours.  Home is an opportunity to be at one with the Divine, in any and every time and place.  Coming out of the Redwoods is not one of coming back from somewhere to home.  It is the opportunity to start fresh.
 
In times of old there was a debate as to when change could occur.  Healing was prescribed by Jesus suggested something quite different.  “Don't be nitpickers; use your head—and heart!—to discern what is right, to test what is authentically right.”  (John 7.24) 
 
In the Redwoods I tested God and found Divinity to be incredibly sweet.  As I surface I want to be one with the Divine; 24×7.  There is room for all; come join me.