I had a beautiful seclusion and now it’s wonderful to be home.
It seems like an extra touch of grace that — after a week of amazing sunrises — I was welcomed back with an amazing sunset.
Post-seclusion sunset glow
Eclipse happenings
The eclipse happened, but Ramesha and I pretty much missed it because we were on the road all day, from 9:15 to 6:00.
We had a variety of errands and medical appointments that took us from Grass Valley to Auburn then all around Grass Valley once again. I’m grateful for the fact that we actually accomplished a whole lot, thanks to grace and serendipity.
But we just didn’t have the bandwidth to pay close attention to the eclipse as well. Listening to the Gyatri mantra while we drove around was the best we could do.
Choir is back!
After almost three years of pandemic-related obstacles, our Ananda Village choir came roaring back on Christmas Day. It felt so wonderful as to be almost miraculous!
Lord knows, it’s been a long and rocky road, starting back in 2020 with a period of complete lockdown. Then following years were filled with repeated attempts to bring choir back only to be thwarted by repeated surges.
Recently we made the difficult decision to nix the choir’s participation in the Christmas concert, but — as infections decreased around the Village — we felt strongly that now was the time to give it another try. And what a glorious experience we had as a result!
Considering that choir hadn’t performed since before the pandemic and hadn’t had a rehearsal since December 1st, it was hard to believe how wonderfully both songs sounded.
I was reminded of my experience many years ago when severe tendinitis forced me to stop playing flute altogether for five months. I was getting my Masters degree at the San Franciscio Conservatory of Music at the time, and worried that my career as a professional musician was at an end before could really get started!
But the amazing thing was that, in a number of ways, there were things about my playing that were better than ever after that long break.
It’s almost as though, despite being deprived of our usual outlet of expression, there’s an inner growth and expansion that keeps happening on subtle levels. And of course, there’s also grace.
Regardless how you try to explain it, something marvelous took place. The video below is of the entire service (which is all well worth watching), but it starts right off with the first choir song: Christ Has Come (the second song starts HERE).
Enjoy!
Springtime concert in the chapel
Today was our Joy Singers concert at Crystal Hermitage Gardens (part of the Expanding Light’s “Springtime at Ananda” retreat). It was scheduled for exactly a week and a day after the Oratorio, which seemed fairly doable.
The problem, of course, is that week and a day went by really fast! I was just barely recovered from the Oratorio by the time we met for our only rehearsal on Thursday night.
Going into the rehearsal, I hadn’t yet found the time or bandwidth to review all the songs and was dismayed to discover just how many of them were either newer or harder than I remembered. Suffice it to say that by the end of the evening I was not feeling particularly ready, much less confident.
So today (concert day!) was about pulling it all together — alto parts, lyrics, researching Shakespeare songs, organizing the binder, finalizing the location, etc. — which finally got the energy really moving.
Of course, once the energy was moving the grace started to flow, and I’m very happy to report that the concert went very well and was enjoyed by all.