Aloha,
I'm Reverend Cindy Palus and I wanted to talk to you about something that occurred to me in meditation this morning.
And it was how wondrous are the very simple things in life.
I notice it especially in nature when I look closely,
Very closely,
At a rose.
This morning I was,
I always get up early to meditate about four o'clock and I meditate for an hour and eight minutes and about five in the morning at this time of year I hear these beautiful endangered geese that are called nene's,
In a way they're called nene,
And they fly right over or sometimes directly over my house,
Sometimes kind of at an angle,
But I can hear them calling really loud,
Nene nene nene.
They sound like they say nene,
That's why they're called nene.
And I know where they live at one point,
They live at a place called Kana Ha Pond.
And I go down there,
It's only open certain times of the year,
It's closed during breeding time,
It's closed right now,
But in the winter when it's open I go and I see the nene on a lucky day,
They're kind of shy.
And at certain times they have their beautiful little chicks and they're very protective of the chicks,
But I stand at a distance if I see them,
I usually have to take some pictures,
And I'll sing them a song,
And I just feel so full of wonder at seeing these amazing geese.
And so when I sit in meditation and they fly overhead I don't know where they're going to,
But it feels so miraculous that they would have this way of knowing,
Right?
I mean when we think of a butterfly and what it takes for a butterfly to be a butterfly and then to go thousands and thousands of miles in its migration,
There are so many amazing miracles in life.
A friend of mine,
Dr.
Gary Greenberg,
He's really into microscopes,
He's created some micro-microscopes.
He did a beautiful book called A Grain of Sand,
And he gets into each grain of sand,
Each grain of sand is different.
And he sees in his close-up ability to photograph with this microscope the beauty in each grain of sand.
And it's different here in Hawai'i than it is anywhere else,
And it's different in each place and he was asked by NASA to do a microscopic vision,
Actually a photograph of some of the earth,
I was going to say earth,
But some of the grains of sand from the moon,
Definitely not of the earth.
And he said it was so,
So different than anything here on earth.
So when you go in close especially,
You just see this beautiful,
Beautiful art.
So gorgeous and not only a grain of sand,
He's now recently doing a whole journey into the beauty of getting a close-up shot,
Very close-up microscopic shot of flowers.
We have this gift here in life.
So I'd like to take a little time for us to celebrate the beauty,
The wonder,
The joy that's alive in life when we let go of our worry and our mind and our definitions.
Because when you do see something so wondrous as a grain of sand,
Very close,
Or a flower,
Or the geese that know how to migrate and still fly right over my head,
And I shout out to them,
Nay,
Nay,
Nay,
Nay,
There's something really special about that.
And it could be just one of the beautiful palm trees here I see that move and shimmer with the wind.
The trade winds love them and they love the trade winds.
It could be the magic of a waterfall.
It could be the warmth of the sun.
It could be seeing a fantastic sunset of clouds changing colors.
But let's take a few moments now to just honor the magnificence of life.
And let's just pause and be aware of our breath.
Breathing in and thinking of the gift of breath.
Breath is the spirit of God in being.
Allow yourself to be alive in that spirit of breath.
Just allow yourself to experience that wonderful gift of the power of this breath of life.
And it's not until you're very sick or possibly close to dying that you appreciate the gift of that breath.
As you breathe in,
Hold the wonder.
And as you breathe out,
Allow yourself to be filled with the appreciation for that lovely breath.
Feel that breath sweeping your mind,
Letting go of any worries or cares.
And let that breath fill every single cell of your body with wonder,
The miracle of being alive.
Breathing in that wonder and letting yourself be aware of how special your life is.
Breathe in that lovely gift of breath and go inside.
Think of something beautiful that you love.
It could be a smile.
It could be a person.
It could be an animal.
I had a horse,
I called him Lumiere,
Which means light.
I saved his life and he would come over to me in the morning and put his,
He was rather large,
18 hands,
And he put his head,
He would rest his head right on my shoulder and just sigh,
Sometimes this sigh that a horse can sigh,
Kind of with a little bit of a flicker of the nostrils.
That was such a special memory.
Breathe in maybe that memory that might be special to you.
A moment of realization.
Go deeper and deeper and appreciate a certain relationship you have.
Must be long-term and how possibly that person happened to call you right when you were thinking of them or text you.
Send some kind of message,
Right?
Right now,
Think of that special person and send them your appreciation.
Breathe in that gratitude and let that gratitude fill your body,
Mind,
And soul.
Think of the beauty that surrounds you.
Think of the beauty there within you.
There was an amazing movie that took years ago,
A little microscope,
And was able to go inside and show what's going on in the body.
Now it's kind of common,
But at the time,
To be able to see this amazing journey inside our body.
What could create such a miraculous form is this body that's alive.
Such a gift,
Let's be grateful right now and breathe in the appreciation of the wonder of our body.
Bring that in and saying thank you to our body.
Going deeper within our body and knowing that what created our body is there within us,
Right there in our heart,
Right there in our mind,
Right there in our soul,
That spark that gives us life.
How wondrous.
What a gift.
Say thank you to your soul for bringing you to this life.
And let's go to that soul and appreciation.
Let that soul be totally aware that we are here right now together,
Merged in this gift of life.
And we are a companion with this energy of our soul.
We are a companion with the Creator and the creation of this amazing life.
With all of nature,
With the beauty of a butterfly,
With that bird in flight,
With that radiant light,
That sunlight that rises in the morning and feeds all of life.
Breathe in the appreciation of this miracle of life.
The wonder that a child sees when the child sees things for the very first time.
Let yourself be in that state of wonder.
Allow yourself to think of something wonderful and let it bring you the grace of that simple,
Beautiful creation that gives you life,
That allowed you to be born living here right now,
Listening in love.
Let that magic fill your body,
Mind and soul.
Breathe in that gratitude of life.
Think of all the people you know,
All having that same gift,
That same connection,
All breathing in this miracle of life with each breath.
Send your love to all the people of the world,
All of those here in humanity that could use your connection to the love that is alive in all beings.
Now allow yourself to feel the joy,
The joy in the celebration of being alive.
See things with the innocence of a child always.
Allow yourself to enjoy your life and the beauty that surrounds you and that is in you,
The beauty of a smile,
That look within another's eyes when it sees you,
The eyes that see your soul.
And say thank you God for this wonderful,
Wonderful gift of life and being alive.
Thank you God.
Amama,
Amama,
U' anoa.
The prayer is free.
Amama,
Amama,
U' anoa.
Amama,
Amama,
U' anoa.
