Loss and renewal.
- clearstreamzendo
- Oct 13
- 2 min read
This week’s topic for reflection is loss and renewal. It’s autumn and the trees are beginning to shed their leaves as cold weather approaches. Many plants and animals will not survive this change, some by design. Insects have laid their eggs or are looking for shelter from the cold and protection from predators. The birds have migrated in search of more plentiful insects. I started the first fire in the wood stove yesterday. Even the sun is well into its journey south leaving the days noticeably shorter. Everything is getting quieter, simpler and darker. This is the season of loss.
Some people are moving to new homes leaving friends and familiar neighborhoods. Relationships are splitting up with the resulting heart ache and disappointment. Countries are at war where death and destruction is the intent. Our country is going through change where there will be a lot of loss or at least potential loss for people and the planet. Loss and the concern for future loss is everywhere.
After a cold dark winter spring always returns. Renewal follows loss. Often the renewal looks different and is different from the way it was before. New relationships can develop along with new ways of doing things and places to live and grow. Even dying is renewal, a change to something new, different. Renewal requires loss in order for the opportunity for something new to be possible. Hanging onto a losing situation can prevent something new and better from happening. Please pause and reflect on how this might have happened in your life.
It can take courage to step off into the unknown. Sometimes we are pushed along by a painful situation and sometimes our current situation is taken away from us. As loss inevitably happens don’t neglect the opportunity it presents for renewal. This moment, right here is continuous renewal.
Clinging to the past that is gone is a recipe for suffering so be careful. This is not supposed to be simple or easy. And don’t forget to be kind to yourself. Renewal is not only possible it is already happening. We always have the option of participating in the renewal with our choices guiding it along. Loss and renewal go together and belong together. It’s the fish moving in the flowing water.
Please join us for morning Zoom zazen from 7:00 to 7:30 Tuesday and Thursday, and Sunday morning Zoom zazen and discussion of the topic for reflection blog from 8:00 to 9:00 Pacific Time. Here’s the Zoom link:
Meeting ID: 811 6100 3357
Passcode: 278259
Gassho,
Futai
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