We work so hard to get somewhere, to realize a dream, to arrive at some destination, that we often forget that though some satisfaction may be waiting at the end of our endurance and effort, there is great and irreplaceable aliveness in the steps along the way.

The further I wake into this life, the more I realize that God is everywhere and the extraordinary is waiting quietly beneath the skin of all that is ordinary. Light is in both the broken bottle and the diamond, and music is in both the flowing violin and the water dripping from the drainage pipe. Yes, God is under the porch as well as on top of the mountain, and joy is in both the front row and the bleachers, if we are willing to be where we are.

The mystery is that whoever shows up when we dare to give has exactly what we need hidden in their trouble.

To listen is to lean in, softly, with a willingness to be changed by what we hear.

When wiggling through a hole the world looks different than when scrubbed clean by the wiggle and looking back.

No bird can fly without opening its wings, and no one can love without exposing their hearts.

Meditation, in all its forms and traditions, is an invitation to listen, to open, to quietly enlist the courage to be touched and formed by life.