Pouring

Dear Friends,

As we have often noted in group, the word "god" in Germanic languages derives from a root that means "pour" or "to pour" or "pouring." It is not far from Heraclitus' famous statement, "all things flow." This perception of the nature of nature as something that pours forth is there at the basis of many, perhaps all cultures, certainly informing Taoism, the 19thth century invention/perception of the "stream of consciousness," and our more contemporary appreciation for states of flow.

But the world as a pouring forth is not really a state of affairs to perceive. Rather, it is something to be and do.

Here's an angle Rainer Maria Rilke takes on it in one of his Sonnets to Orpheus:

Those who pour themselves forth like springs
are known by the Knowing. (II,12)

We are not here to remain static, but to continually pour ourselves out in our attention, in our acts of love, in our daring to think for ourselves. Just when we take the initiative to pour ourselves out -- to give -- it turns out that we are not acting alone. The Knowing knows us. Can we perceive that?

We'll use the Rilke lines as our meditation sentence for today, and attempt to answer their implicit challenge to act, know and love collaboratively. At the end, we'll offer the healing energies of the hour to those fleeing Russian aggression in Ukraine. In times to come, more and more of the world's population is likely to be on the move, fleeing war and climate catastrophe. Where is our standpoint in all this movement? No security but in pouring.

with love,
Michael