We arrive on these shores
From some unknown place
By design, by accident or by grace
Our destiny seems to roll out before us
We walk, mostly in a dream state,
Through our experiences
Measuring them against the imagination
Of what we think our life should look like
And yet, when we approach the final moments,
We may see that it was
Exactly the way it should have been after all

Only awakening to our deepest nature
Can reveal the truth of us
Only through the portal
Of life’s richest and most challenging experiences
Can we come to know anything real about life

The beloved, the divine, grace
Calls each of us again and again
To remember something true about ourselves
It might be innocence, or love
It might be the power of grief to transform us
It may be the beauty of joy
Or the joy of beauty
Or it could be to realize
That we know nothing
But we are here in this mystery
Having arrived from some distant place
Thrown together in this way
And it is our task to accept it as best we can
And to look out at each other
And recognize the same journey
In everyone’s eyes

We are alone, together
Dancing in the paradox
Such is our predicament.

Image by Pete Linforth from Pixabay