aka That Litha Time of Year
They say it’s summer.
The Solstice, the longest day of the year. In many places in the Northern Hemisphere, that means its blazing hot, sun beating down unreasonably though seasonably.
Here, though, it’s a roll of the dice.
And the dice have come up “gloomy.”
I’m looking up at clouds in the sky; the air moist. The tourists who have come to celebrate a typical California summer are having conniption fits. My wife and I are supposed to be celebrating our 20th anniversary but she’s feeling ill and we’re both in the middle of a move and exhausted.
So I’m here thinking about illumination. I’m thinking about the hidden.
There’s a sun out there that, with the proper exposure, grants bountiful life. But unbounded, it scorches everything, laying waste to the world, changing everything.
Today what stands between the sun and an unbearably hot day is the shade of the clouds, a million million drops of water, fiercely clinging together against all odds, one face heated towards the heavens, the other cooling towards us.
I think of a million prayers going up to the source of illuminated knowlege, the hidden mystery of the universe. I think of the the passion of those please, the needs thrown out from the heart floating out into the universe. And then I think of the kind of person who could stand underneath those oblations, struggling to catch a glimpse of eternity, held in rapture by a soft glow buffeted by the soft sounds of others’ hushed voices.
So I’m here thinking about illumination. I’m thinking about the hidden.
They say it’s summer. The Solstice, the longest day of the year.
Here, though, it’s a roll of the dice.
Can you see what’s beyond the senses?
Even for just a minute?
Try.
And breathe…