Do What’s Possible

Father Tom Weston says, “We do what’s possible.”

It has been what I call a wonder-FULL week. It was Divine Timing having Stacey arrive in Florida on the evening of the day my sister completed her transition in Michigan. I was delightfully distracted doing things we love: riding bikes, putting together jigsaw puzzles, and spending good time with good friends, ending our week with a day out on the water.

Several days ago a friend shared Sadhguru’s dharma talk and included a link to “I Am” by Kirtana. It is track 3 on The Embrace album, not an artist or a song I had heard of previously, but this opening stanza says it all.

Before the body, before the story
Before the name
Beyond the mind’s attempt to find
Or explain
Before the breath, beyond the sense
Of pleasure or of pain
And after death, and after death, I am

It is providential we have been watching Manifest, a sci fi series on Netflix. Stacey did not get to watch the end with us when John and Larry and Linda and I binge-watched the last five episodes last night. (I promised my sister, Janis, I would not include a spoiler in this post so no hint to the ending. However, I am saying many of the themes in this series are dear to my heart.)

A conscious living of the grief journey has been significant for me and Johnnie’s passing has been a growth catalyst. We only saw her once during the many years she lived in Texas where two of her sons reside. When she moved back to Michigan, my other sister (Janis) and I had opportunity to visit Johnnie once. Johnnie became quite debilitated with rheumatoid arthritis and was unable to even put in or take out her dentures. She had to move in with her daughter for a time before spending her last months in a nursing home. Our niece reached out to us last fall and I am so thankful Janis and I got to Ann Arbor twice before my coming south for the winter.

Life while we are here in body is often complicated, confusing, and painful — the characters in Manifest certainly demonstrated this fact. But, even in all of that, they proved that life is beautiful.

Johnnie had a peaceful passing, and for that I will be eternally grateful. She did it her way…. and Grace was oh, so present. These words about grace from Sadhguru’s dharma talk touched my heart:

Sun comes up in the morning but for you to see sun you have to open the blinds…. So, if you want to see sunlight as grace, even to receive that you have to do something…. Grace is not something that is happening to this person or that person; grace is…. something that is always on…. Grace is always on…. It’s just on. Grace has no discrimination. Grace has no distinctive way of identifying this person or that person. It’s simply on. It’s simply life….

Before the body, before the story, before the name; beyond the mind’s attempt to find or explain; before the breath, beyond the sense of pleasure or of pain, and after death, and after death, the I Am. We do what’s possible.