I was looking for a Leunig poem I once read called "Love and Fear". I couldn't find it, but I came across this video from the New York Zen Center for Contemplative Care, which quotes the poem. If you have a quiet 15 minutes to spare, it's worth watching, if only just to be reminded that life is short, and that fact alone is reason to feel joy in the present moment and not resist what is.(Top image from Still. Text and second image from modernhepburn)
2 comments:
just the other day i was thinking about love and fear... for me, where there is love, there is fear. when i love someone, this love is also accompanied by the fear of losing them and having to live without them. i suppose that lately i've been struggling with finding a middle ground and not letting fear overpower the love (if that makes any sense). i suppose this could stem from having lost my grandmother recently and realizing that i need to make sure i don't take anyone for granted.
I can definitely, strongly relate to what you are saying. You've put it perfectly. That 'middle ground' is really difficult to find.
I can't say that I've had much success finding that balance between love and fear myself..one of my closest relationships recently fell apart and I think that one of the main reasons was because I was always so fearful, I was so scared of losing that person that I feel like I ended up driving them away. The sad thing is that I thought that was being loving; but in an unconscious way I wasn't, because they weren't free when they were with me, they were closed in by my fear.
So I think (maybe) that part of learning to love is learning to try and let go of some of that crippling fear about loss, and just enjoy the present moment, the joy of just being with someone you love. (Which seems way easier said than done.)
So sorry to hear about your grandmother. It's always so hard to lose someone you love, but it's great that from something so sad you can be reminded not to take anyone for granted, as you said.
There's a line in the Bible that I always remember, that brings me some peace: "Perfect love casts out fear."
x
ps I haven't forgotten about your postage parcel, I'm still keeping my eye out for the book!
Post a Comment