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Hints of Gladness May 15 and 16, 2022
When I am among the trees,
especially the willows and the honey locust,
equally the beech, the oaks and the pines,
they give off such hints of gladness.
I would almost say that they save me, and daily.
~ Mary Oliver ~
For 30 days (or more) I’m going to post and talk about the things that give me joy. I'm going to do my best to record hints of gladness especially when I go for my daily walks.
To sustain this, and what will hopefully become a habit, I have to keep it as simple as possible, so I’m not going to write or do anything too elaborate other than to briefly comment on what's making me glad and have a picture or two to go along with it.
Take good care,
~ Rod
P.S. If you'd like to join me, let me know. I would love to have some fellow travellers who are taking note of their hints of gladness. Email rod@hintsofgladness.com
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May 15, 2022
Today was all about going straight up and then straight back down. I probably went 6 1/2 km uphill and then came back down 6 1/2 km. It was raining but the rain really wasn’t too much of a bother. The creeks were really going, of course. It seems like it’s been raining non stop for four or five days and then for several weeks before that!
Hints...
I enjoyed the friendly greetings from other people on the trail.
Photo above - At first I thought huckleberry was coming out of the tree in the picture but when I got closer I noticed it was coming out of a stump and the tree was coming out of the stump to.
Photo below - The roots of the tree and this picture struck me as being so beautiful today.
Thoughts from the trail - I kind of woke up with the word “examen” so I spent a lot of time thinking about that as I walked today. I concluded that it’s good to look back on the day every once in a while and see if I was very loving or lacked a loving response in certain situations, but I don’t want to make it a thing or a discipline. I guess I could for a while if that’s what the invitation is.
5.16.22
Thought from the trail - Maybe some of us like poetry so much because it attempts to describe what we see and experience and not theologize. It’s heart language, not head language.
Hints…
The smell of Sea breeze mixed with the smell of spring flowers.
Again, the smell out here is wonderful. I think Keating said that smell is one of our most powerful spiritual senses. I’m not sure of the implications of that, but the flowery smell of Spring does raise my spirits. Hints of mysterious indescribable gladness!
Look how green and lush it is out here after weeks of rain.
Hints...
Saying hello to my elderly friends who carefully and tenderly walk arm in arm on this trail every day.
Ahh the end of a work day… I'm not looking for sympathy, but I had vertigo most of the day and had to push through. Just makes me all the more glad that the workday is over and I can hide in my room in the dark with as little stimulus as possible. After I go for a bit of a walk… and have dinner... and post this.
The breeze in the fresh air. We try hard to keep our apartment fresh and the air moving, but there is still nothing like getting outside.
As soon as I hit this first section of this trail across the street from my apartment it’s on! Hints of gladness.
Hints...
Watching a group of guys play keep away with a soccer ball and having a good time.
A father, his son, and a puppy walking along the trail. Need I say more?
A young couple looking out at the inlet at one of the view spots along the trail.
Thoughts along the trail... I was inspired by an interview that I watched yesterday between a couple of SoulStream partners. The person who was interviewed (names with held intentionally) just seemed so at peace as they described their daily routine and how they are trying to live more simply. Ahhhh, Mercy.
Hints and thoughts along the trail...A conversation I had with someone yesterday just came to mind. I just want to say that I really appreciate people who work with people who have experienced severe trauma. The people who do this work are making an incredible sacrifice of their own lives as they try to remain centred and free from burn out themselves. They pay a price to do this work. I’ve been there and I still am, but to a very manageable and sustainable degree these days. I wish they could all just spend a few minutes a day doing this…
Take good care and notice those hints of gladness,
~ Rod
