The Constant Drumming of Time
(“And he said to them, ‘Come away by yourselves to a desolate place and rest a while.’ For many were coming and going, and they had no leisure even to eat.” Mark 6:31)How long
have you been toiling, why do you rush to
to every new task without pausing? I need a refill,
and you could use a solitary moment to gather the
pain together in one place. We work to avoid it,
don’t we? The dances we missed, the daylight we wished
would caress us longer and bid us tarry a while. Take a seat
and wine and cheese and bread and ease and let the day
settle in all around you.
We
understand the drive, we wish we could command the
underside of the way the moon crawls out of the night to
invite us to softer hours than the chemical moments that
turn heated reactions to frozen movements. We do not stop
even
when the gentle voice calls us to come away. We are
lonely
aren’t we? Do we seek distraction? Do we embrace
the thoughts that keep us straddling the line between
motion and momentum?
Even though
the rain has driven us indoors we
can still explore the invitations to a settled mind
that beats in rhythm to the way the doves land
in the cherry tree two at a time.
The truth
is I have found myself waiting for
a better day to take me away to the shelter of
last night’s dreams. Filled with their hazy
memory
of friends whose faces I will never forget,
I would visit them and bring a bottle of wine.
We could find respite in the laughter that
comradery brings. Some have seen our dark
sides
haven’t they? And they still invite to see
theirs as well. Can anything be more restorative
than spending an afternoon indifferent to the strict
adherence to the constant drumming of time?
