This I Believe
These readings are part of our monthly "This I Believe Sharing," in which two members each Sunday share the beliefs and values that guide and enrich their lives.
I believe in miracles--not the burning bush kind, nor the walk on water and raise the dead kind. More the Mozart composing music at age four kind and van Gogh painting sunflowers when he was insane kind. But even more than that I believe in the connectedness of people that happens sometimes for a moment andfor a lifetime. Probably equally I believe in the wonder of nature, and if I can experience the wonder of nature with ones I feel connected with, it becomes a transformative experience. When I see an acorn and realize a huge majestic oak lies somehow within it, I bow to the miraculous mystery.When a baby smiles at me or when I see a child's delight at blowing dandelion seeds for the first time or when I can contribute to another's joy, I am filled with a quiet peace which passeth my understanding.I believe that everyone who is in our life is there for a reason and the main reason is usually to teach us something. Unfortunately, I did not always understand this and there have sometimes been years before I realized the valuable gifts given to me by long-ago companions.Then because of geography or death I have been unable to reconnect and thank them.I have grieved and vowed to be more attuned and aware in future relationships and that, perhaps, turns out to be the greater gift. I believe that the temporary experience of simply being alive is a miracle. If, as Crowfoot said, "Life is the flash of a firefly in the night," it is all the more sacred for its brevity.When I consider the odds against any of us being who we are, (how many sperm are released for just one fertilization of one egg to take place?) I need a word for awe to the hundredth degree.Because there is no such word -- the best I can do is to cherish life and honor the divine in all whom I meet. When life is not going the way I would like it, I, often with difficulty, try to remember that though I cannot control the things that happen to me, I can at least control the way I react.I agree with the physicists who say that if I change the way I look at things, the things I look at will change.I also stand with the wonderful naturalist, John Muir, who says that the sun is always shining somewhere. But if I am feeling too overburdened and just don't know what to do I have finally learned that that is a good time to do nothing. I no longer feel even a little guilty about this--and that, too, is a miracle!
- Anita Rosenfeld
I believe in love,
said over
and over
like a needle stuck
on an antique
phonograph.
I believe in love,
in the mystery of its transforming
power, sure
as the earth spins
each day
over
and over
and over.
I believe in love
-Vicki Schwartz
Readings of April 8, 2007