Spirit of Life,
Great immensity of love
in which we live and move and have our being:
Now is the time of great winds dipping into the trees
and stirring them into life;
of fast-moving clouds and sudden showers
of snow and rain;
of squirrels coming back to the ground.
Now is the early spring.
How we long for flowers and green leaves.
How we long for fragrance and color.
How we long to shed layers of coats and scarves
and feel the warm sun on our skin.
But nothing we can do will hurry the season—
life happens on its own time.
So let us let go of our longing for the future.
Let us come into the present moment.
Let us be aware of our breath.
Breathing in, let us calm our bodies.
Breathing out, let us smile.
Breathing in, we calm our bodies.
Breathing out, we smile.
With awareness of our breath
we awaken to this moment
and the beauty all around us.
Blessed be.
(With thanks to Thich Nhat Hanh.)