Gramps Remembers

 Whispers

Each day that passes, I learn something new. I learn from the people around me. I learn about patience, love, courage, wisdom, kindness, perseverance, strength, laughter, endurance, faith, and oneness. I learn to be still…..and listen to that small voice within. With each lesson that I learn I feel something tugging gently on my heart. It whispers to me promises of a secret so profound and wonderfully waiting for us.

Autumn brings with it a change in seasons, a hint of color here, a splash of dazzling brightness there, the solitude of a small cabin on a lake of in the midst of a forest glade. As the season moves into full bloom, the winds move thru the branches whispering thoughts of endings and new beginnings. The leaves fall to the ground in a deep and colorfully quilted blanket covering the earth in preparation for colder days ahead and deep snows. Under the snows, the leaves continue doing what is required, releasing nutrients to the soil for the spring and rebirth that is already whispering its arrival. It is a season of change.

My thoughts take me to another time when I skied at night across the winter snows, hearing the whisper of the skis on the snow, much like lovers whispering sweet thoughts in the night, speaking promises of things unseen and secrets to be revealed.

“The Master would often say that Silence brought transformation. But no one could get him to define what Silence was. When asked he would laugh, then hold his forefinger up against his tightened lips - which only increased the bewilderment of his disciples. One day there was a breakthrough when someone asked, "And how is one to arrive at this Silence that you speak of? "The Master said something so simple that his disciples studied his face for a sign that he might be joking. He wasn't. He said, "Wherever you may be, look where there is apparently nothing to see; listen when all is seemingly quiet."”

Anthony de Mello, SJ

Some days I become so caught up in the whirl of life that when I finally get a moment to be calm and quiet I don't know what to do with myself. My mind quickly becomes filled. At these times, I forget and resist, fighting the whirl of life and expending energy and do not listen to the whispers in the gifts and challenges; thinking sometimes it would be nice to see beyond the veil, into the future so I can plot my course…then the “whispers” remind me that all my needs have been taken care of. Yet, I cannot help but ask, especially when riding the wave to new places and change.

At these times, I remember that I need I slip away into a quiet world, away from all the noise and chaos, away from designing small house plans, building small cabins, and Tiny Green Cabins, away from the whirl of life; and listen for the “whispers” beckoning me forward. I know that my heart is filled to the brim overflowing as remembrance of all the many blessings in my life flood my being. Yet, there are so many things that I hope and long for. It's difficult to be patient, especially when my heart keeps pulling me toward some strange new future.

What “whispers” in life are you missing?