18 Whatever is--is OK

In the Dunklewald. (Tomasito photo)

18.

Whatever is--is OK.

I believe it is possible to develop a sensitivity or discrimination, which helps distinguish necessary information from superfluous and I have learned to trust my intuition, which I sometimes call my guardian angel, implicitly.

Though it may be only my imagination, it seems to me that some of the people that I meet when I am on pilgrimage, like these two farmers, offer me exactly the aid I need at exactly the right time.

Mist hangs over the rolling hills, blurring the sharply defined periphery of a dark forest above me. The day is still young. The farm road, which I have been directed to follow, curves uphill away from the village church. At the top of the hill there is a view of the sparkling green valley before I plunge into the gloomy woods. New snow sparkles on the black needles of the evergreens. The dirt road underfoot is frozen rock-solid. Tall grasses, silver with ice, fill the clearings.

I am extremely happy to be alive and feel that I am now “in God’s time”, as Mother Theresa of Calcutta put it, where everything is easy.

Even the long uphill hike and my shoulders, sore from the unaccustomed backpack, seem right. I would like to feel like this always.

I have learned while on pilgrimage to be relaxed––to accept whatever occurs as being for my long-term good. My mind is alert, my body is completely engaged, and I am psychologically very tranquil—for one thing, the Jesus prayer is going deep inside me, and for another I have trained myself, through practice, not to waste too much time in worry. What evil can possibly take place when I am in "God’s pocket"? I am entirely content.

I don’t try to control anything or to make anything happen. For this pilgrim at this time—whatever is, is OK.

Tomasito, 2009


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