Since I started this new Substack a few weeks ago, I’ve been snowed under by the news, leading to a blizzard of new songs and possible posts. It’s a bit hard to keep up.
With so much in mind, the first thing I did (instead of recording the songs in the queue or tackling my to-do list, which includes a sermon on perfectionism) I sat down to meditate for 45 minutes. This morning I was assisted in this by beautiful soul Dr. Rick Hanson, whose weekly dharma talks and meditations are offered free to all.
When I sit in contemplation, I’m brought back to the one breath, the one present moment, the one place in which I am sitting. Although my thoughts continue to flit around and light upon one subject or another, gradually I notice them settling down for longer periods of time as I rest in the here-now. It’s from this less-snowed-under state that I can choose what to do next. The next right thing to do, so that I may be of service. (That was the focus of another song of mine: Help Me Do the Next Right Thing.)
In a world of magnitude and multiplicity, it’s easy to lose sight of the value of our small choices—and yet they are all we have. The next right thing. “It might seem like nothing, but it’s everything.” Right now, we all can take small right actions that contribute toward justice and love. Phoning a friend, attending a march, writing a letter, making a financial contribution…it all counts. Each of us have our small song to sing (and of course “song” can be understood literally or figuratively). It all becomes part of what poet Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer called “The Great Chorus” in her daily poem posted yesterday. It lifted me up and pointed me toward my next right thing today.
The Great Chorus
We all live together in a home
in which the rooms are
made of song. Fierce
songs of resistance. Wounded
songs that rise like sirens and
drown out every other song, till
once again, we hear the tendrilled
song of opening. Chants
of freedom. Wild song
of belonging. Sweet lullaby
of trust. What moment cannot
be met through song? Even
the greatest heartache, even
the greatest joy, even
the smallest hope knows
itself not only by its melody, but
by who is willing to sing along and
who is courageous enough to listen.
So here’s today’s new song. It’s been germinating for about a year, and I just finished it today! (A new blossom in my beloved Purple Shamrock plant emerged today, too; see little shoot coming up, above.) I also found encouragement in Carrie Newcomer’s recent Substack post: Small Things Matter. She’s often thinking, and singing, along the same lines as I am…but in far more impressive detail and depth. (Ahah! There’s my perfectionism again.)
Here’s “A Little Good.”
Let’s keep doing all the little good we can! See you again soon.
Lynn