August 22, 2005

Step out

Every night, just before going to bed, I have a little routine of quietly stepping outside into the darkness. I wonder if you do this, too. There is something so magical in the night – there are particular sounds and fragrances and shadows on the ground. The fullness of the night sky is so amazing, as it goes on and on into other worlds. The nighttime beckons us to let go, let it be. My heart overflows with the presence I feel. Just as I begin the day with the light of the sunrise, it is so complete to end the day honoring the darkness. In this quiet moment, I feel so much gratitude, so much trust, and so much love.

So step out tonight, and I will meet you there.

9 comments:

New Life said...

Many nights I just turn my head toward the sky and breathe in the depths of life from space. I LOVE it!!! Of course, I thought I was the only one who stood alone at night and tried to touch the Great Consciousness that holds the expanse together. It is surreal & serene, where I feel suspended with God.

Thanks for sharing.

isaiah said...

Give me a mountain night with the stars so clear and the coolness of the air...the sound of the creek running...it's been so hot here in the SC lowcountry...even the nights.

Tonight I will step out and think of you, M. Meet you there!

twila said...

Your writing is so beautiful, it's hard to comment justly. This time, I'll presume a bit and comment with a poem.

When I Heard the Learn’d Astronomer

When I heard the learn’d astronomer
When the proofs, the figures, were ranged in columns before me
When I was shown the charts and the diagrams, to add,
divide, and measure them;
When I, sitting, heard the astronomer, where he lectured
with much applause in the lecture-room,
How soon, unaccountable, I became tired and sick;
Till rising and gliding out, I wander’d off by myself,
In the mystical moist night-air, and from time to time,
Look’d up in perfect silence at the stars.

Walt Whitman, Leaves of Grass

isaiah said...

Oh-wow, I had forgotten about this poem! Thanks Twyla for your post!

This is such a great poem and reminds me of M's writing!

Meredith said...

"I wander’d off by myself,
In the mystical moist night-air, and from time to time,
Look’d up in perfect silence at the stars."

...and found beside me awesome and beloved Friends!

cdog said...
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cdog said...

I read this yesterday and it really struck me as true and profound and inspirational. I have found myself doing the same thing late at night before I go to bed - going out and looking at all the trees and the stars and taking in the quiet. You described it so beautifully - " . . the magic, fragrance and shadows, fullness of the nightsky, . . . beckoning us to let go . . . I thought about what you wrote as I went out last night.

Unknown said...

I've been stepping out most eevry night this alst summer and offering the day to the sky. And yes there is something that happens there most evenings.

I miss it when winter comes.

Darlene said...

Every night, between the spring and fall, I go sit either on the stoop in front of our house, the steps on our back porch, or on the small second-floor balcony for what to me is that greatest brief moment of peace, and serenity, to clear my mind of all problems and just reflect. The concert of crickets beginning at the end of July here is soul-soothing, too, as is the skree of nighthawks.

I sit like that on weekend mornings too, before the sounds of people blemish the sounds of nature. How I miss those few precious moments once it becomes too cold outside.