All winter you might think that the tulip beds were just bare ground, a field of emptiness. It takes a lot of trust and patience to get to the moment when the dazzling masses of color emerge, and still more to remember they will come again as they start to fade.
In what brief moment have you been overwhelmed by abundance?
The Statue of Liberty shines her torch as a beacon to welcome the “huddled masses yearning to breathe free.” Of course, when the “wretched” actually arrive it is likely to be something of a different story, but still, the statue reaches out as a symbol of the possible.
When have you received an extraordinary welcome? When have you offered one?
The crowd has gathered, ready for the run, or the protest march, or the big game. Although strangers may or may not speak to one another, each person has become part of something larger, something that has the potential to become not just a mass of people, but a community—or a mob.
When have you felt a strong connection with a group of people that you didn’t know?
“By all means use sometimes to be alone. Salute thyself; see what thy soul doth wear.”
—George Herbert
When you take a moment to be alone, what do you find that your soul is wearing?
Sometimes finding your balance takes all of your effort—arms spread wide, you make a series of tiny adjustments to find a place that will allow you to stay up, even to glide forward, if only down the bunny slope.
What are you trying to balance today?
