Be Here

Like the prudent mariner

never trust your fate

to just one map,

A singular aid to navigation,

pockets filled with promise,

a basket full of eggs.

Too many trials and tribulations in life

to create predictability

with any scientific authority.

Listen to the music between the notes,

echoes of silence between your thoughts,

the vastness of an empty mind.

Respond to the conundrum

that life so often is

with beginner’s optimism.

Seek clarity within turbid realities,

trust in confusion

as a transitory necessity.

Gather that which feeds your soul

and leaves your essence spinning

in the still point of your mind.

Yield to the mystery,

surrender to your wisdom;

never give this up.

Beg the questions,

question the answers;

acquiesce to your waking truth.

Let go of attachments

in this results oriented world,

abandon self-imposed limitations.

Believe in the goodness

that nests in your core;

the seed of your creation.

Nothing is unforgivable;

every sinner has a future

every saint has a past.

All that matters is in the now,

you are either now-here

or nowhere,

Copyright © Henri Ferguson 2004

All rights reserved.

This piece has been in the works for some time. While poring over a navigational sounding chart I read a caution to sailors not to rely solely on one single map or floating markers for their navigation. I certainly saw the logic in this but more importantly (perhaps) I saw the metaphors for life.

Plenty of self- observation and that of others through the lens of equanimity gave birth to these words. Call it pocket wisdom if you will, but I seem to have a penchant for encapsulating little poetic snippets of insight as I stumble along this path of mine. And if these words resonate with others, all the better to know we’re connecting on some level. I believe that if we are ever to achieve any sense of peace and harmony we dream of, (even in this vexed and complex world), we need to reach out with compassionate understanding and leadership. We are all capable of doing this, all we have to do is Be Here.