Tea Mind
There are things you can’t reach. But
you can reach out to them, and all day long.
The wind, the bird flying away. The idea of God.
I look; morning to night I am never done with looking.
– from “Why I Wake Early” by Mary Oliver
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Earlier this week I was drinking a cup of tea and happened to be reading the label on the side of the tea can. Isn’t it funny how your eyes automatically wander to anything with words on it? (I have memorized more cereal boxes in my lifetime than I care to admit!) In case you haven’t noticed, tea boxes and cans have become quite philosophical lately. This particular can said, “Life is impossible and so what? It is in its very impossibility that we find our joy. The life of tea is the life of the moment. We only have Now, and we each sip it in our own cups.”
Life is so full and alive this time of year that it’s impossible to take it all in. The flowers are blooming, insects are active and the grass is growing faster than we can mow it! To lead a spiritual life is to be continually open to everything going on; in nature, in politics and in our selves. That’s why it may seem like an impossible task. Yet, no effort is ever wasted in this kind of reflection. Mary Oliver says that, in spite of the odds against us, we need to keep reaching and keep looking. The immensity of the divine is all around us. It is moving beneath our feet, flying in the sky and waiting to be read about as we sit quietly enjoying a cup of tea…
Dave