Great gray owl, Yellowstone National Park. Photo by Gregory Smith (Wiki Commons)
A gift born on the wings of a momentary encounter with an owl, this exquisite reflection by Kim Schunelle invites us all to remember how to live in the land of the sacred. A couple of short excerpts as a doorway into her longer contemplation entitled Sanctum:
“The land of the sacred is not a different land than the one we inhabit in our day to day lives. The sacred comprises a typically unseen dimension of that same land, a dimension that requires a slowing down of our habitually active minds and bodies as the price of admission. Once that threshold is crossed, subtle vectors of a wider connection become apparent….
In the face of a centuries-old systematic pattern of growth and accumulation, to slow down is to swim steadfast against the current of a larger cultural river. Paradoxically, it can sometimes require hard work to dismantle hard work. Claiming a birthright of equanimity and harmony has become a radical act.
Yet, on a more profound level, this ‘hard work’ is a doorway to the deeper path towards wholeness and connection.”
It is, indeed, a choice - an act of specific and deliberate resistance to the dominant cultural paradigm to slow down, withdraw and learn to live in the land of the sacred. Give yourself the gift of slowing down long enough to read this reflection ~ may it nourish you deeply.
Thank you Sarah-Jane for putting this beautiful piece into our hands. With gratitude for keeping this thread of connection alive and available, Peri and Barbara