The Spell

I've always dreamed of sitting around and doing nothing.

It's been about a month since the last of the major projects on the cabin have been completed. Kim and I have been blessed with the luxury of time to sit, to listen to ourselves, and to gain clarity for what's ahead. Although I've never been a fan of the Puritan work ethic that seems to drive a large portion of this country, I have found that there is some truth in the statement, "Idle hands are the Devil's workshop." This is especially true if there is too much time to think and the ego gets a hold of the loudspeaker.

For awhile we fell under the spell of lethargy. Days would be flowing into days without any real drive to move forward. But the real danger of lethargy can be found in it's Greek origin lethargos or forgetfulness. In our idleness we were forgetting why we were out on the land. We would drive through the neighborhood around Bodhi's school and wonder if we should have bought a one acre lot with a house already on it rather than a ten acre lot of raw land. What the heck are we going to do with ten acres of raw land? Is life in the middle of a tropical rainforest really for us?

About a week ago, when we were in Honolulu, there were days of torrential rain storms here on the Big Island and the cabin got it. We came back to find mold all over our dining room table, on Bodhi's toys, and on some of our clothes. The only real succinct way to describe it is---gross. We spent the first two days back on the Big Island at Karen's in Hilo, while Kim and I went up to the land to clean up the mess left by the big rains. We got the place cleaned up pretty well, all of the laundry washed, and of course, as it always does, the sun broke through the clouds for a few days and dried up everything. When the sun did show, the temperature was in the high 60s with breezes blowing out of the north. It's the time of year when the sun comes in at an angle that casts long shadows across the landscape. It was glorious to be out on the land, having breakfast on the deck, listening to jazz and feeling the cool drying breeze blow over what was once wet and boggy.

As I sit here and write this it's easy to see the gloriousness of what we are experiencing as a family. But sometimes when you are in the midst of muddy feet and wet everything, the longing for modern conveniences run high. These feelings come at you fast when you have idle time.

I'm in no way advocating busyness for the sake of busyness. I saw a lot of that in Honolulu. One of the things I noticed was that not a lot of people just hang out in Honolulu during a week day. I was at Ward Center at lunch time and everyone around seemed to be very directed; either a business lunch meeting, rushing through a meal, or behind the wheels of their cars heading back to the office. The only people I noticed really hanging out were senior citizens, 20 something college students, mommies with young babies, and the well heeled set.

When you walk around Hilo Town on a weekday, it seems like everyone is just hanging out.

Where do we find the balance between being and doing? Too much idleness leads to the mire of lethargy and a feeling of purposelessness. Too much activity without contemplation leads to the unexamined life that Socrates warns us about. It's a matter of balancing the two aspects of our being. As spiritual beings, being in a state of Being is enough. But as physical beings in this material world, we crave action and movement to create some sense of purpose in our lives. There is no judgement on either aspect of our being, it just is what it is.

Thanksgiving, and a few days before, really helped to break the acedia for Kim and I. A couple of days before Thanksgiving, I was asked to dust off my ordination and officiate a wedding ceremony. At first, I didn't want to perform the ceremony. It had been a few years since Kim and I had officiated a wedding and I was feeling out of practice and not looking forward to being in front of a group a people. It had been raining a lot on the morning of the wedding and there was a part of me that was hoping the couple would cancel the whole affair. About two hours before the event, the sun broke through and the ocean front location was absolutely gorgeous. The bride and groom looked young and nervous standing in front of me and in front of all of their family and friends. They had, however, that sparkle of new wonderful beginnings. Being a part of the union of the young couple was very meaningful and helped me to make a crack in the shell of spiritual apathy that was currently surrounding my Higher Self.

Preparing for our Thanksgiving meal was also a real balm to my soul. For me, being out in Karen's garden and breaking a sweat while harvesting the corn, being in the hot kitchen helping to chop, stir, lift, pour, and washing dishes and pots until my fingers were pruned was revitalizing and refreshing. And each trip to the store on Thanksgiving morning for oil, or pie crusts, or whipped cream, or canned pumpkins, was a pilgrimage to purposefulness. I truly appreciated that the spell of lethargy was being broken on the day set aside specifically for giving thanks. It is so appropriate that Thanksgiving leads the way into the Christmas Season, because in order for us to truly be in a space of giving and receiving we must first be in a space of gratitude for what we already have.

So as far as the dream of sitting around and doing nothing, I do believe it needs to get balanced out with mindful action. The followers of the teachings of Ernest Holmes' Science of Mind practice doing spiritual treatments. A spiritual treatment is an affirmative statement of one's intention, basically an affirmative prayer request. Many Science of Mind practitioners are familiar with the statement, "Treat, treat, treat, then move your feet". So when do we know it's a good time to move our feet? Well here's a little story that helps me contemplate that question.

A hawk and a vulture are flying in the sky. The hawk was flapping his wings hard and was very excited about hunting for a meal. The hawk exclaimed,"Ohhh! boy ohhh boy! I'm going to catch me some rabbit today! MMMMM! Rabbit. You ready to eat some rabbit?"
"I'm just waiting on the will of God." answered the vulture.
"Waiting? I'm not waiting for anything! First rabbit I see, I'm devouring."
"I'm just waiting on the will of God." said the vulture.
Just then the hawk spots a rabbit and knowing exactly what he wanted, he bared his talons and darts toward the rabbit. Just as the hawk was about to grab the rabbit, the rabbit hops out of the way and the hawk crashes straight into a pile of rocks and drops dead. Up above, the vulture circled around the scene a few times, gently glided down to the hawk, and whispered to himself, "Waiting on the will of God."