Pearls of Wisdom - Joan

 Joan: I don't know about you, but one of the first things I do each morning is check my messages: are the kids OK, headlines from a couple of news sources, the Daily Good blog, emails that effect my schedule for the day's events. Since it's before my morning coffee, I am awake, though generally not yet fully alert; consequently, I may be a bit more open, aka a bit less judgmental, to receive what the universe is sending me. Recently it was a request for a holiday stuffing recipe, a cancelled appointment and the words of Thomas Merton.

         Never one to quickly grasp the message of many philosophers and theologians, still when Merton started talking diamonds, I listened. And I wondered, if our center is like a diamond blazing with the light of heaven, what comes next? Upon reflection, for me, the answer is really quite  simple. It's what we choose to add; the people and the places that surround us in our relationships and the life events we experience.

          Born princes and princesses in our parents' eyes, they become our first treasured jewels. Over time and with age, we select our friends adding more brilliance to our center along the way. Through some encounters we learn kindness, through others patience; the list goes on and polishes us with the warm embrace of understanding and support. These relationships help us develop the resilience we need to hold ourselves together in good times and keep our feet planted firmly on the ground in bad.

          Inevitably in life, we lose a a bauble or two. Some we outgrow, some we lose by inattention or carelessness and some exit our lives through the natural course of events; we mourn these losses with sadness at their passing, but hopefully retain joy at having shared them in the first place. At times, unable to let go, we seek the assistance of others to help us find our way, or we beseech St. Anthony, patron saint of lost things, to intercede for us. 

          As a dear friend sagely explained after suffering significant losses in the northern California fires, strangers have bonded together, sharing donated breakfasts, advice on how to seek assistance and dealing with the myriad of life details in what is now a changed landscape. These are the unexpected jewels of life, hidden in circumstances we would not have chosen. Pearls of wisdom shared amidst adversity, but treasured none-the-less.

          Over the years we adorn ourselves with these jewels, even while recognizing that not all of them glitter. It doesn't matter that they are not always seen; they are a part of us. It's an embellishment of that reflection of heaven, a treasure accumulated here from our time on earth.