“HE WHO MOVES A MOUNTAIN BEGINS BY CARRYING AWAY SMALL STONES FIRST”
Confucius
Please take a minute or two to look at the above photo of the stack of stones called a cairn. Imagine yourself sitting on the rocky shore, the breeze gently blowing around your face and arms. You are free of all the responsibilities and demands of your normal day. You are free of anxious or depressing thoughts. All your attention is on the stones. Notice how they are still glossy and wet with ocean water that has washed over them as waves rolled against the shore. Listen! Can you hear the sound of the waves rolling in and out. It appears to be low tide. I wonder if these stones are covered by water when the tide is high. Predictably, without fail, the tide comes in and goes out. Everything is in order- in its right time. Now, breathe in slowly and deeply and feel your shoulders relax. Come back to your present as though you are returning from a short get- away.
It takes patience and a bit of planning to create a cairn. First, you must hunt for stones of the right size and shape. Then you need to find or prepare a flat ,secure surface. Carefully, you place the stones one upon another. At a certain point, you know your cairn is complete. If you tried to add any more stones, the cairn would collapse, and you’d need to begin again.
What is there in your life that needs this kind of relaxed attention and thought? How can you create something meaningful, one stone at a time without overdoing it? What would your own cairn mean to you?
SANCTUARY 