Thich Nhat Hanh, in Peace is Every Step, tells of being asked by an artist, “What is the way to look at a flower so that I can make the most of it for my art?” Hanh replied, “If you look at it in that way, you cannot be in touch with the flower. Abandon all your projects so you can be with the flower with no intention of exploiting it or getting something from it.”

Life has a way of unveiling itself to us, when we cease trying to manage and manipulate it to ends foreign to its nature. Our surrender to Life is simply our giving ourselves to the only way that will work for us. Life is never against us, but we can alienate ourselves from the grace of Life through our assertiveness and aggression. We are here to serve Life, and we find, when we understand and align with Life, Life serves with us, but often, if not always, for higher ends than those we initially thought worthy of our time and attention. Oddly, sometimes Life is working for us exactly when Life seems to have abandoned us. Life never abandons us, not even in death. Life sometimes simply is not cooperating with our seeking to be in charge of Life. Life loves us, for Life is Love. We learn to trust Life, when we see Life is much better at working things out for good than we are. We can choose to be against Life, or with Life. If with Life, then we must learn how to be in communion with Life in a trusting and gentle way.

*Arem Nahariim-Samadhi