Today's blog post is not about the farm per se, but about life more generally. John just left for Iowa for a month (to broadcast all that seed!). And as we talked about it all in the last few days before he headed out, the finances of farming seemed even more grim. How will we do it??
It feels important then to reflect on how so much of life is an actual challenge. And while figuring out one's finances is a rather sizable challenge, it is important too to think about those stupid every day challenges that can get us all worked up - traffic, the phone cutting out, government strife - and to remember that it is all a bit of noise. If I spend my energy flipping out because the bus is late, how can I ever focus enough on the real challenge at hand?
I am sharing today a poem / prayer I just ran into over the weekend that I wrote right after the chaos of September 11, 2011. I updated it a bit to reflect today's times (although the line about the President I wrote for George W Bush - oh the good old days!!).
Somehow it all feels relevant today.
Hope your day is full of wisdom,
Beth
A Prayer to the Everyday Challenges
To those testing experiences to our daily contest of clarify,
To those things which cause our otherwise peaceful minds to growl with aggravation,
Of these things, of which there are many, we do now speak.
To the too fast drivers to whom our mouths abruptly respond, "asshole" as we slam on the breaks,
To the person who stops at the yellow light and slows down my rush to do the next thing,
May you arrive at your destination safely and with peace in your hearts.
To the telemarketers who call with numbers almost the same as mine, who try to interest me in lines of credit or ask for my social security number for the IRS while I am eating dinner,
May you find kindness and respect at the end of every phone call.
To the city planners who have timed all the lights in the city incorrectly, making us all stop and idle, spewing more smog into the air,
And to Muni transit, who cannot seem to get the data for the J Church to work, leaving me sitting at the bus stop for 25 minutes when the app tells me it is arriving in 5,
To you I thank for the moments you have given me for reflection and wonderment of the world around me.
To our members of Congress who cannot agree on how to get us reasonably priced health care, leaving the American public hostage to jobs they don't like and illnesses they cannot afford to control,
To you and your family I wish many years of physical safety and healthful living.
To our President of limited vocabulary and questionable intelligence, of warped beliefs and convoluted solutions,
May you be blessed with words of compassion and a true understanding of the world around you.
To these things which present to me the challenges of every day life, creating situations which I cannot change yet cause daily agitation,
Let us see the wisdom of an other's point of view and grant me the insight of compassion, understanding and respect I need to make the world a better place.