The Beloved

‘And in the end, did you get what you wanted from life, even so? I did. And what did you want? To call myself beloved, to feel myself beloved on the earth.’

~ Raymond Carver

When the beloved loves the beloved, nothing stands outside of love. There can be nothing else. One of our teachers quoted these lines from a poem during our recent retreat, and a rich, warm glow infused the room: All things were being cared for and nurtured. Nothing was out of place. Lao Tsu wrote of the Way, ‘All beings depend on it for life, and it does not refuse.’

How could it? Up at dawn this morning I noticed a pile of bird poo on my car parked under the oak tree. I was ecstatic: the song bird nests were devastated by flocks of marauding crows this spring. Now I knew that at least one healthy robin remains in our neighborhood. And the honey bees are back in my garden, tending to the red and white roses, Italian basil and lavender. Buzz and buzz some more. Thank you, dear.