Times have changed, and times are strange...

The current contradiction of my life:

A hermit said, 'A tree cannot bear fruit if it is so often transplanted. So it is with the monk.'

--The Desert Fathers

By a compelling impulse a man goes for a day in the woods. Just why the impulse came to break his usual habit he does not know clearly, rather wonders at it, but there is some vague thought of freedom. He plunges into the rough parts of the wood, climbs under and over. He runs wild. He tears his clothes--but it does not matter. The business of his progress is met with enthusiastic energy and time passes as in a dream. And concurrent with his action there is thought of a surprising fluid character. His attitude toward the life he has just stepped out of has wholly changed. Intricacies untangle. He sees people in new values. Bitter feelings have disappeared. He is over and above all petty grudges, envies or fears. Something has happened. The spirit of the wood has possessed him. He has got into the rhythm. Surely he is no longer in his usual plane of life. It is a day of clear seeing.

Later, days later, in his office he cannot recall just what it was that passed--just what that ecstasy of the wood really meant, but he has a memory that he had seen into his life, and had seen it from a different angle and in a way that simplified many matters.

--The Art Spirit

Back in VA after a whirlwind trip to New York City. Exhausted. Very glad I went--supremely smart decision as far as helping the re-entry process, but I need to stay put for a little bit, now. The word that keeps coming up is "confusion". Which is good, but need a bit of time to process. Very excited to go back to Bon Air tomorrow (Christmas Concert! 5pm! It's not just a concert it's worship and involves Africa and Rumi and my drum!).