At a recent daylong retreat for spiritual directors, Lisa, our facilitator, guided us through different spiritual practices, all of which led me to hear the same message: Be simple. Let go.
Throughout the day, a massive tree decluttered, sloughing off leaves that snow-flaked to the ground.
Toward the end of the day, I sat on the ground with another tree to my back. While I could not see the tree, I watched shadows of its branches dancing across the grass and heard this invitation:
Branches sway me to dance with them.
“Let go”, they say, “Let the wind carry you.
No need to resist or grasp.
Simply let yourself be moved.
After all, everything here is just a shadow, a trick of the light,
a flickering moment in the sun,
and then it’s gone.
So let yourself be a dancing shadow,
playing in the light of eternity”.