Simply Sacred...

I know it has been ages since I've written and I can only tell you that I've thought a hundred times about what I might share.  Basically, the past couple of months have been busy...more than busy, and I find myself, as I'm sure many do, simply chasing the day.

I had planned for this blog to be about patience...and my kitchen shelves (yes, there is a connection there, I promise)...but that post will have to wait for another day.  I am, by the way, quite pleased with my little shelf creation...just so you know it was worth the wait.  But the shelves are only a small part of the past few weeks and I promise more on projects later.

Today, however, I was taking a moment to watch  a little TV with our daughter, Gentry (she has been a little under the weather this weekend and needed a some Mommy time) and I heard something that touched me.  A Jewish Rabbi was talking about the orthodox Jewish diet and explained that the diet was an extension of the idea that we should celebrate holiness in our daily life.



I was touched...he had somehow articulated what I haven't quite been able to put into words.  I am frequently asked by friends, family and co-workers why I choose be a vegetarian.  As crazy as it may sound, I really do believe everything is sacred and somehow, I feel a deeper harmony with Mother Earth if I don't eat meat.  But honoring the holiness of daily life is bigger than what I eat...it really is how I choose to live...

My husband scratches his head at my insistance that the bed be made each morning.  My daughter doesn't quite understand why I use my good china once a week.  A full moon fills me with a sense of wonder and I love to hear the windchimes sing on a windy night.  I light candles every evening and almost always have a fresh vase of flowers under the window.  I feel comfort in a bowl of soup and a yummy glass of wine on a weeknight, a kitchen filled with the smell of fresh bread and shelves designed and created by yours truly, and an evening spent wrapped in a blanket watching the sunset from my back porch.

None of this is ovewhelmingly significant, but our lives are crafted in the little moments...moments spent recognizing the holiness of daily life.  Celebrating the sacred simply means paying attention, living in harmony and gratitude, honoring the day with a soft spirit, and remembering that everything that surrounds us...no matter how small or mundane...is a holy gift.

I'll tell you all about the shelves, the virtures of patience, and future projects another time.  Today, I'm just enjoying their beauty...and the end of the day.