A Few Words from The Numinous Leaf

Hey You!
Listen Up!
I’m over here.
No, not there.
Here.
To the left and slightly north of the cigarette butts.
No, not the mountains.
No, not the red van with shiny wheels

It’s me. The brown leaf.
I’ve got a few things to say to you, life lessons, so to speak, so listen and listen good.
(Please note that leaves do not use good grammar, and while I am fastidious, grammatically speaking, I am quoting The Numinous Leaf and will present the words verbatim. Now back the The Numinous…)

First, you will be moved by forces beyond your control.

Second, you will be useful but not in the ways you think.

Third, you used to have a very different life from the one you now have.

Fourth, most of the time others think you’re just dead.

Fifth, there will always be things around you that people will notice before they notice you.

Finally, never forget

WAIT, that wasn’t the end.
Jesus said:
Consider the lilies.
Lazarus, come out!
Little girl, get up!
AND I am the beginning and the end.
So you see. It’s not over yet.

(This poem? voice? lyric? emerged from the walking meditation assignment given by Richard Rohr on April 8, 2010. The assignment went like this:

1. Find a place to sit. let your eyes focus on one single object until you stop saying: “This is silly.”
2. Choose not to judge the object. Don’t like or dislike it, don’t state a preference. Be aware of the beginnings of joy.
3. Dare to listen to the object – what does it have to say to you? Be aware of the beginnings of love for the object
4. Be aware of a contented spaciousness – non-dual consciousness – aware of a kind of connectedness and belonging – a non-acquisitive instinct.)