By John Flood
So now the northern hemisphere slowly but surely tilts more and more toward the sun as daylight lengthens. Our friends in the southern hemisphere have just enjoyed the longest daylight of the year—their hours of sunlight will now shorten. Here the balance is beautifully demonstrated.
The Earth’s movement in the heavens is a part of a cosmic story of vast proportions. If I remember correctly, the Earth travels approximately 25,000 miles per hour through space. Hold on! This movement of the Earth with all its mineral, vegetable, animal and human passengers through the solar system and associated galaxies is governed by rules and regulations we humans scarcely think about when we are preoccupied with our material affairs and self-concerns.
Yet we could not continue to live at all without the stability and life-giving cosmic forces that help sustain us moment by moment. Here is the essence of attunement. Just think what would happen if the sun decided not to shine on us … even for an instant!
I am reminded of a poem by a friend, Chris Foster:
Bearers of the Sun
They say I come from the earth
From the dust
From the slime
Of a grey, primeval ocean,
A poor, pitiful creature struggling up through
Eons of time
To catch one small glimpse of light
Before I die.
It seems there is no question at all
That I am going to die.
Death and taxes, they say, are the two sure things.
We live on Death Row
They say
Sentenced the moment we are born,
By a God of Love,
Some even say!
But I do not believe what they say
For today I looked at the sun
And I felt at one with the sun
And as the warmth of the sun warmed me
And the light of the sun lighted me
I thought a most heretical thought
That if part of me is of the earth
Earthy.
A part of me is also of the sun
And is the largest part
So that I could say, and speak truly,
I come from the sun.
I carry the light that shines in the sun
I bear the fire that burns in the sun…
I dwell in the earth
For the moment. I am of the sun.
And I see the earth with the vision of the sun
From above.
These human boundaries mean nothing to me
This conflict of East and West means nothing to me
I see people of integrity everywhere
And I comfort them with my light
And warm them all with my love
That they too may be reminded that they are of the sun
As I have been reminded. I am of the sun
And I see my own body with the vision
Of the sun
From above.
I see my own body as a planet
A tiny but beautiful planet
Even though time and struggle
Have left their mark upon it.
The government is not responsible for my body,
The doctors, priests, counselors,
Philosophers, experts Of every possible kind,
None of them is responsible,
I am responsible
And I say to this little sphere of flesh
With its inbuilt mind and heart
Be still
Fear not
I am here.
We are not what we have thought ourselves to be
We are a Company of Creators
With fire in our nostrils
And in that fire all things are transformed
And the true destiny of men and women
And of this world
Is made known.
