Raveled Edges

Come away with me in the night
Come away with me
And I will write you a song…
Come away with me where they can't tempt us
With their lies…
So won't you try to come."
Norah Jones excerpted from Come Away with Me

Life is not always whole or graceful. It tends to run towards jagged edges even when it has a purpose in mind. Efforts to move from one way of being or thinking are not always neat and tidy much less clear sighted. Living involves fitful, sometimes desperate, bouts of stop and go. It may distill down as we grow older and even smooth out, but it will still contain the essential call to continue growing and changing along those unraveled edges towards wholeness both personal and collective.
Our world feels greatly unraveled right now. The oil from the rig is being slowly contained but much too late for the estuaries and beaches. In the sweltering humid air of the Gulf, hordes of rescue workers are doing all they can to save the wildlife that can be reached, while the enormous issue of what happens long term hangs over the scene like a pall. The magnitude of our inability to stop the long tendrils of the oil currents sliding with the tides onto the shores makes it difficult to remain hopeful when what we feel is helpless.
The call of wild winds and the sea to come away are legend. Perhaps this is the moment to remember the oceans, like the skies and winds have no borders. They call to everyone to expand the boundaries of their lives. We can proclaim our air space or sovereign waters, but the air and water simply keep on moving and calling as they have always done. In the Gulf right now we are being shown how true this really is. We don't own the water or the sky or the earth. We have only been invited to live here with them. These past weeks have made it very clear what the consequences are when we do not treat that invitation with respect. Our collective lack of foresight about energy use and resources has caused more edges it would seem than can ever be gathered back into wholeness. Out of all the sound bites we hear that lack in us remains the single most compelling reason to overcome our helpless feelings by remembering the nature of life is towards life and we are a part of that process. We have as much potential for life as we have for destruction. The wind is still blowing over all of us. The oceans continue rolling up on the shores, despite the oily snakes they carry. What remains to be done is for us collectively, to take their invitation to heart and grow and change.