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I spent the entire day on my porch today.\u00a0 I\u2019ve been working a 53-hour work schedule on an assembly line.\u00a0 My body has adjusted, but I find myself wrung out at the end of the week and in need of natural sounds and feels that bring me back down to earth (so to speak).<\/p>\n
I realize I\u2019m fortunate to have the porch that people dream about, even though there are some trade-offs to owning this porch in a smaller town.\u00a0 We are 45 minutes from everything and I drive that far to work every day.\u00a0 But occasionally, days like this make me realize what a gift this 1920\u2019s house is.\u00a0 Other times, I walk around back and realize it\u2019s like a retreat spot and makes me happy that I built a deck around the fire pit about a year ago.<\/p>\n
We decided we would work on the landscaping and flower beds a little next weekend, but we probably won\u2019t get carried away.\u00a0 Our gardening is not intricately planned or expertly maintained, it\u2019s just a hodgepodge of little ideas we had at various times.\u00a0 There\u2019s too many weeds in the yard and in the flower beds, but none of that is a priority today \u2014 today is about writing and rest and thinking about whatever comes to mind.<\/p>\n
I watched people go to church this morning and felt glad for them that they seemed relatively content to go there.\u00a0 I felt the same way to be in my own place of communion with the Divine and my favorite two beings, Laura and Winston.\u00a0 In addition, I felt a closeness to the finch that took over the robin\u2019s nest this year as we moved our chairs down to the other end of the porch to give her some space.\u00a0 The butterflies are finding the bush out front in much the same way the ants are making their way to the peonies.\u00a0 Flowers are beginning to bloom, just like the people all around us are living their lives as we are gradually aging.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s always spiritual for me to be in nature and the climate today made it easy.\u00a0 But it\u2019s just as moving when we cuddle up in blankets under a chilly night and a full moon.\u00a0 I am extremely thankful for these times that I finally feel what some of the ancients might have felt when they moved outside of the city and chose to live in the desert.\u00a0 Today we are not scurrying to accomplish things, but literally doing what we feel serves us.\u00a0 It\u2019s absolute, true sabbath to me!<\/p>\n
I hope you find your place or places that are like this for you.\u00a0 They don\u2019t have to be a distant location.\u00a0 They can be wherever you find communion with God, your favorite people and all of creation.\u00a0 Finding \u201crest for your soul\u201d is the truest image of communion with the Divine.\u00a0 One of the things we deconstructed was the mistaken notion that we have to go somewhere to find sanctuary \u2014 the mystics knew that you could find it wherever you are!<\/p>\n
Laura and I wish you well.<\/p>\n
We are looking forward to visiting the sanctuary of our friends, the Elam\u2019s, in a little over a month.\u00a0 Until then, you\u2019ll probably find us out here at least a few times a week building a fire or just staring off into space or writing something on our laptops.\u00a0 You can do the same where you are and some day maybe we\u2019ll get to hear your story of solitude and sanctuary.<\/p>\n
Be where you are, Be who you are,<\/p>\n
Karl Forehand<\/p>\n
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I spent the entire day on my porch today.\u00a0 I\u2019ve been working a 53-hour work schedule on an assembly line.\u00a0 My body has adjusted, but I find myself wrung out at the end of the week and in need of natural sounds and feels that bring me back down to earth (so to speak). I […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4370,"featured_media":1775,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[962,302],"tags":[907,971,968,965,305],"class_list":["post-1769","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sanctuary","category-solitude","tag-communion","tag-peace","tag-rest","tag-sanctuary","tag-solitude"],"yoast_head":"\n