Renewing & Remembering Love
#SongsOfComfort
On Easter Sunday, Andy and I mused about what each of us can renew within and between us, in the distance our arms and hearts can reach every moment of our lives.
Neither of us knows how, at this moment, we can influence the 131 million people in the world who have died from this pandemic or the many fears that have been dividing us from one another in this country.
Many of you who have known or studied with us know that we trained in Ki Aikido--the martial arts of creating harmony between forces in opposition for decades with Sensei Richard Kuboyama of Kauai. He passed this month at 92 years old, right before my 79th birthday. Although very small in stature, he taught me about the fierce tenderness that is possible in connecting with others. I learned from him that one power I always have is where and how I direct my attention. He taught us that love is an intelligence that, like light, can disappear but never be destroyed. Sensei came to the Kauai airport to greet Andy and I on the frequent trips we made to study with him. Frequently he would give us a ti leaf and place a sweet smelling flowered necklace, a lei, around our necks. He was seeding kindness in the darkest corners of our hearts. It is our responsibility now to learn how to cultivate the seeds of those flowers by attending to those in the six feet around us.