Beauty
Photo by Josh Schrei
Yesterday morning I awoke as the sun was rising. Indigo sky, bright morning star, streaks of deep red in the east — clouds the color of glowing embers in a banked fire. Looking out the window, I wonder how I could ever doubt the presence of an underlying Order, Balance, Harmony and Flow. All this beauty is a manifestation of that Order, Balance, Harmony and Flow. This universe, this world, are wondrous in their beauty. Someone told me once that when the Navajo speak of “The Beauty Way” they are referring to that fundamental balance. To walk in beauty is to walk in harmony with everything, in balance with a world in that is in balance.
As I make a fire, drink my morning tea, wash last night’s dishes, the word beauty keeps working in me, the remembered image of star and sky echoes in my heart/mind/body. I experiment with the thought, When I connect to Source, I connect to beauty, I am surrounded by beauty, I live in beauty. I remember the pictures I’ve seen of nebulae, galaxies, planets. I remember the mountains above me, the stream below. Everything of nature that I see around me is that Order, Balance, Harmony and Flow at work (or play…)
When I am aware of the beauty of this world, this universe, the beauty and precision of this human body, and indeed, every body, be it plant, animal, mineral, one-cell, vertebrate or invertebrate, of sea or land or sky, when I think of the sunrise and the sunset, stars and moon, the ravens who call to me in the morning for leftovers, and circle around my head when I bring them out — then I trust ever more deeply in that fundamental energy of Order, Balance, Harmony and Flow.
Yes, all this beauty has its destructive aspects, in storm, and fire, in the chase of the predator and the ravages of drought and many other manifestations. There’s been a balance, the beauty of creation delicately balanced by its inevitable destruction. Now we humans seem to have thrown things out of balance with our greed and violence, our destructive energies. The scales tip towards the destructive energy. As the destructive energy seems to grow in power, though, in the natural balance, so does the creative energy. So does the healing energy.
The healing energies of Order, Balance, Harmony and Flow are so available to us now. They are strong, and clear, and present at every moment. There are so many portals, so many openings. A moment in the morning with the sunrise. A breath. The sadness that arises when reading the news. The laugh of a child, the warmth of a fire. Beauty of heaven and earth, soul and body, as one. Beauty of thought and feeling, joy and sorrow. Beauty of image, word and sound. Beauty beyond image, word and sound. Beauty of what is.
In these times, beauty sustains us and nourishes us. Heals us.
“In beauty may I walk
All day long may I walk
Through the returning seasons may I walk
Beautifully I will possess again
Beautifully birds
Beautifully joyful birds
On the trail marked with pollen may I walk
With grasshoppers about my feet may I walk
With dew about my feet may I walk
With beauty may I walk
With beauty before me may I walk
With beauty behind me may I walk
With beauty above me may I walk
With beauty all around me may I walk
In old age, wandering on a trail of beauty,
lively, may I walk
In old age, wandering on a trail of beauty,
living again, may I walk
It is finished in beauty
It is finished in beauty”
(From the Navajo Nightway Ceremony)
©2011 Donna Thomson and Bob Schrei
