“Hello to here”
Crisp autumn morning, Ada Hadyn, Ames, Iowa
One of my all-time favorite phrases… hello to here.
A reminder, mantra, call… to be rooted in place.
“Stand still. The tree ahead and bushes beside you
Are not lost. Wherever you are is called Here
And you must treat it as a powerful stranger”
These words are from a poem called “Lost” by David Wagoner published in In the Shelter: Finding a home in the world by Pádraig Ó Tuama and provide the inspiration for the phrase “Hello to here.”
These three simple words… so much energy and power yet simple and direct.
This phrase, my companon through the pandemic as I sought to find my way in the “here” of a place I did not want to be.
As time has passed, my relationship and understanding of this phrase has deepened…
everywhere is here…
tHERE is the here of wHERE you are…
and the here of far, far, away…
Reawick beach, Shetland, UK
When I dream of writing about Shetland, in my mind, I always begin the tale with “in a land far, far away…”
Yet, when I’m there, it’s not far away and the people who live there think of my home as a land far, far away. Their home is here…
And as I rose this morning to write to all of you, the crescent waning moon high in the southeast sky…
the moon visible to me… here
yet also visible to your here
Hello to here… a reminder to be present, in the “here and now.” But also so much more… the here of everywHERE… we are all connected.
Peace nugget #8
Recall these words…
“Ours is not the task of fixing the world all at once, but of stretching out to mend the part of the world that is within our reach...”
The here for many in this world is a place of violence, war, oprression, loss, and devestation. Those places may feel far away and out of reach. We’ve been focusing on how to mend the part of the world that is within our reach… however, if we are all connected, that reach may extend farther than you initially imagined.
Everywhere is here…
Today, light a candle, sit in the darkness, and still your mind and body.
A candle is a small thing. But one candle can light another. And see how its own light increases, as a candle gives its flame to the other. You are such a light.
-Moshe Davis, Rabbi
Hello to peace…
Hello to the here of peace…