What dreams may come

Hurrying to catch my bus to work last week, my eyes followed the course of hard, cold streets and sidewalks as my thoughts ticked off the day's endless list of to-dos and to-wants. I happened to glance up long enough to see the waxing light of day stretch its pastel arms into the eastern sky. For the slightest of moments the pink dawn appeared to be a dream of cherry blossoms coloring the bare tree branches along the street. I paused and smiled at the portend of spring, crinkled and fresh like crepe paper tucked behind the outline of sleeping bark and hopeful buds.

Dreams come in all forms. The light is returning, bringing with it glimpses of dreams yet unexamined and those fully awakened. Joanna Macy, Buddhist scholar, writer, and spiritual activist, has been living the dream of mindful, purposeful work for most of her life. Her pioneering guidance in The Work That Reconnects and The Great Turning, our shift as a culture from an industrial growth society to a life-sustaining civilization, has inspired and opened countless numbers of people to the deep possibilities that lie sleeping within them.

In her latest newsletter, Joanna writes:

"The other night at dinner, as we were sharing news and views, my Creation theologian friend Matt Fox said, 'Courage is the first sign of the Spirit. It is the root of all the other virtues.'

I loved his saying that. It caused me to think how courage is the essential ingredient of truth-speaking, how it sparks our fervor and our self-respect, how it lets us discover new strengths, new allies. And I got to reflecting on how lucky I am that the work I do acquaints me with so many courageous people."

Yesterday on my same route to work I noticed the first cherry blossoms opening in the trees. The light of the pale blushed beauty of the petals and the dark strength of the gnarled gray bark set their opposites in beautiful alignment. Our courage lies in seeing the light and the dark in union and stepping into our truth with fervor and respect.

What do you see when you look to the sky?

Join Joanna Macy this summer for nine days of intensive training in The Work That Reconnects. Click here for more information.

Tess Wixted
Continuing Studies Associate

Visit us at http://www.royalroads.ca/continuing-studies