Last night I had dinner with a friend. It was take-out Mexican. Enchiladas. Rice. Beans. Some chips and salsa. Some guacamole. A bit of wine.
Last night I had dinner with a friend. It was at a park, South Fork. Where a stream trickles down from mountain. It is shallow enough to cross, which we did to wander through a bit forest, now colored with the reds, oranges, yellows, and browns of Autumn.
Last night I had dinner with a friend. We sat on the ground. We shared updates of each other. Challenges. Excitements. Wonders. Fears. But at a the pace of the stream trickling nearby.
Last night I had dinner with a friend. We also wondered aloud together about troubles of these times. Climate crisis (not climate change). Middle East peace (and manipulation). Election integrity (and more manipulation). A little CoVid.
Somewhere in the dinner, in the park, and in the stories, we talked about presence, and how it takes courage to show up just in the moment that is in front of us. To be both in the troubles, yet fully in the here, and the now.
Last night as my friend and I had dinner, a mom walked by holding hand of her two year-old daughter. We all talked for a bit. I felt lifted by the natural smile of this two year-old.
This is one of the key skills of this day, isn’t it. To be turned to the troubles. Or aware. Or grounded. Or active. Yet also, turned to only what is in front of us. This is deep inner and outer work, isn’t it.
Last night I had dinner with a friend, and learned again that the meal was the friendship. The meal was the connection. The meal was the the support together of being aware and awake to the big picture, yet fully, and I’d say courageously, in only the moment and presence of the now.