I am delighted to share another beautiful submission to the Monk in the World guest post series from the community. Read on for Kathy Roy’s submission “Gentle Spirits.”
Stepping out my front door for an early morning walk has become a spiritual practice over the years. This morning, the sky is a deep inky blue and as I step out of my house, my eyes are drawn to the brilliant glow of the moon shining through the branches of pine trees. Dawn has not yet broken the dark of the night and the moon has a circle of light radiating all around it.
This sight is a wonderful way to start the day and I feel the light of the moon begin to fill my spirit with lightness too.
The neighbourhood is so quiet at this time of day. It is my favourite time to walk. This morning, I pass a woman walking with her aging German Shepherd. I love crossing paths with them. They emanate a sense of peaceful companionship as they walk together. The German Shepherd is never on a lead, yet he stays right by her side. As I watch them coming toward me, they both stop at the corner of a street before crossing. She gazes down at him and he immediately sits. Their wordless communication has such harmony, patience and trust in it. Whenever I watch them together, they demonstrate to me what happens when we embrace a way of being that is based on ‘power with’ rather than ‘power over’. These two walk together in such a coordinated effort of well-seasoned friendship. I can sense the loyalty and love that they have for one another and something in my heart expands whenever I see them together.
This morning, as we pass each other, the German Shepherd stops to say hi to me. The woman greets me with words I have also been thinking, “It’s a beautiful time of day to be out, isn’t it?”
I wholeheartedly agree.
As I walk away from them, it dawns on me that I am love crossing paths with these early morning sojourners because they are the embodiment of gentleness. They walk in slow, companionable silence and exude what it is to live with a gentle spirit.
As I arrive back home and reach for the handle of the front door, I pause for a moment and turn my gaze up to the moon one last time before stepping into the house. It is still almost full and I find myself saying a silent prayer under the moon’s illuminating light:
“May I, too, radiate gentleness like a soft-glow around me.
May I carry a peace-full presence wherever I go.
May I live in harmonious companionship with those around me.
May it be so.”
Then I step inside.
Kathy Roy is a writer, spiritual companion, and interfaith minister. She lives in New Brunswick, Canada and can often be found walking the local beaches and forest trails gathering inspiration for her life and her work. Her website is: SpiritGarden.ca.
