That Which Remains - 29 March 2011
29th March 2011
Today is a work day. By that I mean Joel must bring the Blog up to date and edit his photographs, while I must type into the computer all the pages I wrote while we were away.
We lunch outside on the terrace – our favorite picnic of baguette, cheese, ham, tomatoes and olives. A simple glass of water and a shared truffle. I read to Joel my newly typed pages and when I finish I am filled with gratitude for the experience of being here. I share with Joel what I think is our mission here, and in fact everywhere we go.
The truth is this world is disappearing. Not just in Provence, but the world over. Beauty is being erased by humanity. It is harder and harder to find that which so many of us long for: simplicity, continuity, tradition. I look out across the valley, through the power lines to the terraced hillsides, once dotted with peasants’ homes. It’s not that the hills are now vastly populated which is so disturbing, it’s what has been built to house the ever-expanding population.
When did we stop caring about what and how we built? You see the ugly creep everywhere: the ancient crumbling buildings, still beautiful in their dotage, and opposite, a row of “modern” apartment buildings. The charcuterie, opposite a supermarket. The truck-laden super-highway next to tilled fields. One has to search for beauty and authenticity – consciousness really. Forgive me if I sound like an “end of the world cometh” type right now, but really, what do you think? Industrial revolution, pollution, nuclear energy, oil, plastics, terrorism, ethnic-cleansing. And nature rising up against us: earthquakes, floods, hurricanes, tsunamis, famine.
Yesterday, visiting a website I frequent, I read of the recent death of Jose Arguelles who created Harmonic Convergences. On his deathbed he said he had done all he could on this planet and was being called to assist in the closing of this cycle from the Other Side.
Each of us wants to be of use. Each of us has the burning quest to find our purpose on earth. This morning I said to Joel that I feel our purpose is to find beauty, wherever and however it is meted out. That we are part of the tribe that must bear witness and bring good-tidings. I believe that beauty is consciousness made manifest. It certainly isn’t Botox. And consciousness is what we all can practice in order to ensure that that which will remain, after this cycle ends, will be closer to the spirit than to the material.
We cannot give you the book on Provence that we all wish still existed. But we can bring the glimpses of that which remains in the hope that you will not only find spiritual nourishment but the courage to honor that which is of value in your world.