{"id":28642,"date":"2025-07-11T10:44:54","date_gmt":"2025-07-11T14:44:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/johnesimpson.com\/blog\/?p=28642"},"modified":"2025-07-11T10:45:02","modified_gmt":"2025-07-11T14:45:02","slug":"recognizing-the-universes-hand-when-its-offered","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/johnesimpson.com\/blog\/2025\/07\/recognizing-the-universes-hand-when-its-offered\/","title":{"rendered":"Recognizing the Universe&#8217;s Hand When It&#8217;s Offered"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-spotify wp-block-embed-spotify wp-embed-aspect-21-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\" style=\"width: 100%;\">\n<p><iframe title=\"Spotify Embed: Summer (Special Edition)\" style=\"border-radius: 12px\" width=\"100%\" height=\"352\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen allow=\"autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; fullscreen; picture-in-picture\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/open.spotify.com\/embed\/album\/4rA3Ai1UMtWSTXYcU0LbAJ?si=r0LEiOKsQoeUahxAKN--dg&#038;utm_source=oembed\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n<p>From <em><a href=\"https:\/\/whiskeyriverscommonplace.blogspot.com\/2005\/11\/we-work-in-dark.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">whiskey river&#8217;s commonplace book<\/a><\/em>:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p>Generosity is another quality which, like patience, letting go, non-judging, and trust, provides a solid foundation for mindfulness practice. You might experiment with using the cultivation of generosity as a vehicle for deep self-observation and inquiry as well as an exercise in giving. A good place to start is with yourself. See if you can give yourself gifts that may be true blessings, such as self-acceptance, or some time each day with no purpose. Practice feeling deserving enough to accept these gifts without obligation&#8212;to simply receive from yourself, and from the universe.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p>(Jon Kabat Zinn [<em><a href=\"https:\/\/archive.org\/details\/whereveryougothe0000kaba_z6w9\/page\/61\/mode\/1up\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">source<\/a><\/em>])<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8230;and:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p><strong>Swan<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Did you too see it, drifting, all night on the black river?<br>Did you see it in the morning, rising into the silvery air,<br>an armful of white blossoms,<br>a perfect commotion of silk and linen as it leaned<br>into the bondage of its wings; a snowbank, a bank of lilies,<br>biting the air with its black beak?<br>Did you hear it, fluting and whistling<br>a shrill dark music, like the rain pelting the trees.<br>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0like a waterfall<br>knifing down the black ledges?<br>And did you see it, finally, just under the clouds&#8212;<br>a white cross Streaming across the sky, its feet<br>like black leaves, its wings Like the stretching light <br>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0of the river?<br>And did you feel it, in your heart, how it pertained to everything?<br>And have you too finally figured out what beauty is for?<br>And have you changed your life?<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p>(Mary Oliver [<em><a href=\"https:\/\/archive.org\/details\/swanpoemsprosepo0000oliv\/page\/n32\/mode\/1up\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">source<\/a><\/em>])<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8230;and:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p>There is a hole in the universe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It is not like a hole in a wall where a mouse slips through, solid and crisp and leading from somewhere to someplace. It is rather like a hole in the heart, an amorphous and edgeless void. It is a heartfelt absence, a blank space where something is missing, a large and obvious blind spot in our understanding of the universe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>That missing something, strange to say, is a grasp of nothing itself. Understanding nothing matters, because nothing is the all-important background upon which everything else happens.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p>(K. C. Cole [<em><a href=\"https:\/\/books.google.com\/books?id=qqW2Z0VI0t0C&amp;pg=PA1#v=onepage&amp;q&amp;f=false\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">source<\/a><\/em>])<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8230;and:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p><strong>Dust<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Someone spoke to me last night,<br>told me the truth. Just a few words,<br>but I recognized it.<br>I knew I should make myself get up,<br>write it down, but it was late,<br>and I was exhausted from working<br>all day in the garden, moving rocks.<br>Now, I remember only the flavor &#8212;<br>not like food, sweet or sharp.<br>More like a fine powder, like dust.<br>And I wasn&#8217;t elated or frightened,<br>but simply rapt, aware.<br>That&#8217;s how it is sometimes &#8212;<br>God comes to your window,<br>all bright light and black wings,<br>and you&#8217;re just too tired to open it<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p>(Dorianne Laux [<em><a href=\"https:\/\/books.google.com\/books?id=2SxaDwAAQBAJ&amp;pg=PT10#v=onepage&amp;q&amp;f=false\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">source<\/a><\/em>])<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8230;and:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p>If you knew what I knew about generosity, you wouldn&#8217;t let one meal go by without sharing it.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p>(Buddha [<em><a href=\"https:\/\/books.google.com\/books?id=h5DpEAAAQBAJ&amp;pg=PA10#v=onepage&amp;q&amp;f=false\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">source<\/a><\/em> (in slightly different words)])<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>From elsewhere:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p>To foster your spiritual life, you need an effective method especially suited to you. Buddhists call it <em>upaya<\/em>, \u201cskillful means.\u201d When I first heard about upaya many years ago, I felt excited because it helped me make sense of the many odd things we do in the name of religion. It\u2019s important to have good ideas, but you also need to be skillful in your method. The practice of religion requires precise and thoughtful action&#8230;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Some schools of Buddhism teach that <em>upaya<\/em> goes along with two other aspects of the spiritual life: compassion (<em>karuna<\/em>) and wisdom (<em>prajna<\/em>). I\u2019d like to borrow this Buddhist trio of virtues for my own religion. What could be more perfect than basing your life on wisdom, compassion, and skillful means? What better way to describe religion than as a deep way of life that takes into account your mind, your heart, and your hands? In my own private book of spiritual practices, along with these three central ingredients I would add wonder and serenity, two items I borrow from Glenn Gould. That gives me a five-legged table on which to build my religion: wisdom, compassion, skillful methods, wonder, and serenity.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p>(Thomas Moore [<em><a href=\"https:\/\/books.google.com\/books?id=oPQBDAAAQBAJ&amp;pg=PA253#v=onepage&amp;q&amp;f=false\">source<\/a><\/em>])<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8230;and:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p><strong>Mysticism for Beginners<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The day was mild, the light was generous.<br>The German on the caf\u00e9 terrace<br>held a small book on his lap.<br>I caught sight of the title:<br><em>Mysticism for Beginners<\/em>.<br>Suddenly I understood that the swallows<br>patrolling the streets of Montepulciano<br>with their shrill whistles,<br>and the hushed talk of timid travelers<br>from Eastern, so-called Central Europe,<br>and the white herons standing\u2014yesterday? the day before?\u2014<br>like nuns in fields of rice,<br>and the dusk, slow and systematic,<br>erasing the outlines of medieval houses,<br>and olive trees on little hills,<br>abandoned to the wind and heat,<br>and the head of the <em>Unknown Princess<\/em><br>that I saw and admired in the Louvre,<br>and stained-glass windows like butterfly wings<br>sprinkled with pollen,<br>and the little nightingale practicing<br>its speech beside the highway,<br>and any journey, any kind of trip,<br>are only mysticism for beginners,<br>the elementary course, prelude<br>to a test that&#8217;s been<br>postponed.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p>(Adam Zagajewski, translated by Clare Cavanagh [<em><a href=\"https:\/\/books.google.com\/books?id=JPVUdbvU6b8C&amp;pg=PA7#v=onepage&amp;q&amp;f=false\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">source<\/a><\/em>])<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8230;and:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p><strong>Beach<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The end, I think, will be a little like looking down as far as I can see to where the wind has kicked up the tide and turned it all the same\u2014sea, spume, the air. There might even be someone walking toward me, the way in the edge-of-the-ocean blue light they\u2019ll be obscure until the last moment. I think it\u2019ll be late afternoon, the sky that luminous oyster white into which things disappear. I\u2019ll stop to look at the sky, and the moment I do I realize I\u2019m alone, I misunderstood the figure coming toward me, which, considering the time of day, is as it should be, especially now that the wind has kicked up a little and the white sun has almost dropped under the soft gray almost stillness of the water, it seems just the right hour to be, again, alive.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p>(Stanley Plumly [<em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.poetryfoundation.org\/poetrymagazine\/poems\/1690379\/beach\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">source<\/a><\/em>])<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>From whiskey river&#8217;s commonplace book: Generosity is another quality which, like patience, letting go, non-judging, and trust, provides a solid foundation for mindfulness practice. You might experiment with using the cultivation of generosity as a vehicle for deep self-observation and inquiry as well as an exercise in giving. A good place to start is with [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":28651,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","h5ap_radio_sources":[],"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"activitypub_content_warning":"","activitypub_content_visibility":"","activitypub_max_image_attachments":3,"activitypub_interaction_policy_quote":"anyone","activitypub_status":"federated","footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"Mary Oliver, Adam Zajewski, George Winston, et al.: 'Recognizing the Universe\u2019s Hand When It\u2019s Offered'","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[183,1393,74],"tags":[595,757,1633,2268,3312,3910,4119,4234,4896,5179,5791,6151,6153],"class_list":{"0":"post-28642","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-everyday-life","8":"category-whiskey-river-runningaftermyhat","9":"category-music","10":"tag-mary-oliver","11":"tag-gratitude","12":"tag-adam-zagajewski","13":"tag-dorianne-laux","14":"tag-k-c-cole","15":"tag-stanley-plumly","16":"tag-jon-kabat-zinn","17":"tag-george-winston","18":"tag-buddha","19":"tag-thomas-moore","20":"tag-clare-cavanagh","21":"tag-generosity","22":"tag-finding-grace","23":"entry"},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/johnesimpson.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/Screenshot-from-2025-07-11-10-40-58.png?fit=750%2C249&ssl=1","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p6kZSG-7rY","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/johnesimpson.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28642","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/johnesimpson.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/johnesimpson.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/johnesimpson.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/johnesimpson.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=28642"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/johnesimpson.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28642\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":28652,"href":"https:\/\/johnesimpson.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28642\/revisions\/28652"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/johnesimpson.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/28651"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/johnesimpson.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=28642"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/johnesimpson.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=28642"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/johnesimpson.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=28642"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}