Tuesday, August 5, 2008

NEW MORNING AT SCUDDER POND






















A while back, my sister emailed this video to me. It just takes a few minutes to watch. I've been meaning to post it.

I've been listening to a CD with the title of "Graceful Passages." I bought it at the hospital gift shop during my father's last years, the years that followed the death of my mother. I was drawn by these words on the back of the CD case:

"A powerful tool for the grieving; a healing comfort for the heart." -- Stephen and Ondrea Levine

"Music with spoken messages and prayers, presenting a peaceful reflection on the eternal questions of life while helping us care for ourselves and our loved ones. Spoken by:

Ram Dass
Ven. Thich Nhat Hanh
The Very Rev. Alan Jones
Elisabeth Kubler-Ross, M.D.
Fr. Maximillian Mizzi, O.F.M. Conv.
Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi
and other mentors and guides.

Introduction by Ira Byock, M.D.
Foreward by Sam Keen
Epilogue by Kathleen Dowling Singh, PH.D.

Epilogue:

PRAYER FOR PRESENCE:

Let us be the ear that listens without judgment and with deep compassion
to all that the voice of our loved one has to say in the phase of Chaos.

Let us be the still and quiet point of acceptance where the personal life is
reviewed and resolved, honored and released.

Let us be the silent and understanding companion to the voiceless time
of Surrender.

The love will endure, never fear. In fact, beyond the personal self,
love just gets stronger, purer, freer, deeper. Go there with your
loved one.

Sit and breathe with your loved one, matching your rhythms.

Sit and meditate with your loved one, matching your visions.

Sit and pray with your loved one, matching your deepest longings.

Let us share, far beyond the last breath and even through a breaking
heart, in our loved one's Transcendence; the entrance, at the edge
of life, into the peaceful luminous Center."

I had put the CD away before my father died and completely forgotten about it until a few weeks ago.

















"So happy just to be alive
Underneath the sky of blue." (Bob Dylan, "New Morning," 1970)

3 comments:

The Solitary Walker said...

That Animal Rescue video is so cute. I commented earlier, didn't I, that there's a Dylansong for every occasion!

Wonder if they have room for a young heron - now being lovingly cared for by our next-door neighbour, but I fear it may have something wrong with its wing.

Loren said...

I particularly like the stanza that says
"Let us be the still and quiet point of acceptance where the personal life is
reviewed and resolved, honored and released."

Sometimes that seems like the most important thing we can offer.

Lori Witzel said...

Magical clouds, and so very fine paired with the new blog title and the clearing light.