SHELTER

Given the opportunity to luxuriate in the guestroom of dear ones of my family this past week, I find myself having a conversation with - myself. To have or not to have - the benefits of micro or macro space. On the one hand, a person can move, unrestricted, in a large bedroom and, on the other hand, the cocooning nurture of a micro-mobile bedroom seems to foster unrestricted soul work - a contemplative space. My cerebral conversation has been quite a lively one. Case in point: I find myself at this very moment in my mobile digs writing this blog, something I have been attempting to do, unsuccessfully in the guest-space bedroom where I have been hanging my hat the past week. Seems to me I am more creative in littel ol' Pedro's small space, invigorating my spirit. As I glance through my RV window, a cluster of sheltering maples defines the beach of the azure lake a stones' throw away. For this time in my life, this pilgrimage I am on, I have found my contemplative spirit thriving in this micro world of mine.

An inspirational book responsible for my present journey continues to enlighten me to the purpose of my pilgrimage - a set apart journey, to give birth to a life with greater meaning.

Tibetan pilgrimages, I've learned, are undertaken with a vibrancy for the giving and receiving of both spiritual and material blessings. Tibetans practice pilgrimage by circling mountains. The aboriginals of Australia are a wandering people. Nomads of the middle east (Bedouins), are a wandering people as well. Simplicity - mandatory - for a nomadic lifestyle. My life over the past 3 months has been a conglomeration of uncomplicated days, filled with mystery, discovery and revelation. Naming the purpose of my journey was, for me, the lid on my soup kettle. My journey was thus christened: "A Reclaiming of Family Relationships - a Rediscovery of my Future." It is happening folks. The embryo is present. I am blessed to be giving a small tidbit of my gifts - an art piece to each niece or nephew I visit and I am blessed to receive - tidbits of insight and wisdom from the generation of folk younger than myself. The birthing of my future will commence - in God's own time..

A conversation with a niece I recently visited, enlightened me to a surprising attitude about 'shelter'. One fact-finding study by an acquaintance of hers, relative to homelessness, revealed this interesting data - some people are homeless - by choice! Is it the wandering they find satisfying or is it simply they do not want to work. Therein lies a month's worth of debate. Seeking and creating daily shelter is required by the homeless, as well as the pilgrim, the complexity of which varies greatly. In my present 'mode operendi', a pilgrim on the road with my trusty RV, my daily challenge is simple - where to park for the night. Mostly, it has been rather easy, though I could indeed share a few stories in that regard! The easy places- RV resorts, state parks and driveways of relatives. The 'not-so-sure' places I have hidden away for another time and place! Shedding the extraneous and needless encumbrences at the periphery of my contemporary life has lightened my pilgrimage journey.

As my wandering year continues to unfold before me, the way of the pilgrim is settling into my days. A true pilgrim's progress is twofold in measurement; exterior progress -- the movement of your body in a mobile vehicle or on a foot path - as well as interior progress -- the movement of your soul from one consciousness to another. Journeys welcome mystery - not the problematic sort - the awakening and transformational sort. Shelter is primal for all living creatures. Indulge me for a moment as I share a California story.

My daughter and family recently relocated to southern California. Eighteen hundred miles and 10 days after I embarked on my journey, I landed in the shelter of her loving arms. To say that I felt a bit of paradise invade me is an understatement as I relished the embrace and surveyed the beautiful palm-treed community she now calls home. My sleep space in California became even smaller - sharing a bed with my 5-year-old granddaughter. Who is to complain though, when a tiny hand slips into mine in the middle of the night. Daily walks on the sidewalks of her gated community became my norm.

On a particularly nostalgic day in June, I was stopped dead in my tracks by a curious new phenomenon to this midwesterner. Lumbering ever so slowly in front of me was what looked like a dagger-shaped earthworm carrying a very large rockish parcel on its back. I had heard my daughter talking about all the snails on the sidewalks, but had not witnessed them myself, until this particular day. " So this is what a snail looks like," I thought. I crouched down to observe the intricacies of this little guy with the big burden on his back. With agonizing delays, Mr. Snail made his way across the great space of concrete leaving a mucousy sludged trail in his wake. The sliver-sized antennae with the micron orbs on their tips must, I muse, contain some radar-scoping capabilities. Curiosity in high gear, I decided to 'fool around' with Mr. Snail. I reached down with a stick in hand and touched his large shell perched on his rail-thin body. With lightening speed, his whole earthwormish body retracted to within his shell and there he sat, still as the rocks on the edge of the sidewalk. "Wow, pretty nifty," I thought. A real-life example of 'shelter' - a recluse from the storms of life and potential storms of life was staring me in the face. My ensuing days brought a great many life metaphors to my thoughts as I recalled my curious investigation of this little creature. l will leave you to excavate life's meanings in this story of a snail's shelter.

In the quietness of my midnight's meditation, I heard, on that night in my consciousness, the strains of an oft-sung melody - 'On Eagles Wings'.... "You who dwell in the shelter of the Lord who abide in His shadow for life....He will raise you up on eagles' wings - bear you on the breath of dawn - make you to shine like the sun and hold you in the palm of His hand..."

Flying free in the face of life's storms, I am assured of the protection of the Almightly, of the shelter promised repititiously in the psalmodies of David. The great 'I AM' is renewing - who I am.

In this I rest.

Intothewind

with Naturegirl