Gratitude 18 … Sanctuaries
Today I am grateful for my life’s sanctuaries — those havens of rest and safety where I have been blessed both to relay The Way to others and to replenish my energies while doing so …
Initially, I am thankful for the more traditional homes in which I lived before becoming a Peace Pilgrim — the neighborhoods of Brentwood in North Carolina, Homewood in Alabama, Ann Arbor in Michigan, Tacoma in Washington, Stuttgart in Germany, Kailua-Kona in Hawaii, and Wildwood in Georgia. They all provided me with the priceless gift of Community that we so often take for granted.
And I am thankful as well for the diverse array of homes in which I have been blessed to stay since choosing in 2003 to live without a residence of my own — Rebecca Jean’s sofa in Tacoma (Washington), the tennis-court bench in Kailua-Kona (Hawaii), the parking lot of the 1st United Methodist Church in Kailua-Kona (Hawaii), Alexzanna Farms’ guest room in Wildwood (Georgia), Emily’s living-room floor in Boise (Idaho), Zeta’s apartment in Seattle (Washington), Jon & Danielle’s guest room in Chicago (Illinois), a storage room of the Loevy & Loevy law firm in Chicago, the Edgewater Beach Apartments in Chicago, Kristin’s house in Kailua-Kona (Hawaii), the house at the top of Lani Kona Road near Captain Cook (Hawaii), Donnell’s guest bed in Watertown (Wisconsin), Cecile & Dennis Even’s home near Madison (Wisconsin), Emily’s sofa in Boise, the Shoebridge residence in Boise, Kurt’s guest room in Boise, numerous hostels along the Camino de Santiago (northern Spain), Janie’s storage room in Park City (Utah), Bev’s guest room in Miami (Florida), Richard’s sofa in Chicago, Becky & Peter’s sofa in Seattle (Washington), Deb & Mark’s sofa in Brattleboro (Vermont), Duncan’s floor in Feuerbach (Germany), Waltraud’s guest bed in Feuerbach (Germany), Suzanna & Lawrence’s guest “chalet” in Wildwood (Georgia), and most recently a fold-out cot in the warehouse “antechamber” in the engineering firm of Bickele & Bühler in Feuerbach (Germany) … All of the aforementioned have provided me with both external shelter for my body as well as internal Peace for my Soul along my Way.
And I am thankful for my most intimate Sanctuary — me; composed of a physical body perfectly designed to transport me to those in need, an emotional ego that tempts me not to serve those others once I arrive, and a conscious conscience that enables me to reach out and Care for them anyway.
And finally, I am thankful for my Sanctuary least tangible — namely, the Earth herself and the Universe that encapsulates her as she whirls, spins, weaves and bounces through that Cosmos. Indeed, she serves as a constant and beautiful reminder that I am allWays “at Home” wherever I happen to be — whenever I choose to set aside my fears of “then” to revel in my Here&Now …
And so it is that I climb to my proverbial mountaintop, take a deep breath filled with profound reverence, and let loose with a long & loud —
Thank Youuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu!
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