“How do you measure a year in the life?”  

This lyric from the musical Rent has been in my head this week.  The song answers literally (“525,600 minutes”) and metaphorically (“in daylight, in sunsets, in midnights, in  cups of coffee”), before settling poetically on love.  Measure in love!  Listen here if you haven’t heard before, I dare you to not tap your foot.  

I’ve been singing this lyric since I returned from Monhegan Island, Maine.  I was on Monhegan a year ago July, and a lot’s happened over the past twelve months.  I’m taking stock, thinking back and thinking ahead.  Maybe too much thinking.  We approach life like the song says, always trying to place value upon something that escapes our units of measurement.  

I was visiting Mongean as the visiting minister of its Community Church, the tiny island’s single religious institution.  It’s a great deal for me; I share what I love to do, and in return I stay rent-free in an ocean-front cottage.   The Monhegan church has “historical” roots in the Christian tradition.  Yet it serves diverse visitors, many of whom don’t identify as Christian or religious at all.  Those who join in bring their own unique mix of parts!  Every morning, I facilitated a Mindfulness & Poetry practice.  I shared the Billy Collins poem My Life, and I’ll share it with you tomorrow morning.  The poet has no choice but to use words, language being his stock-in-trade.  Yet the poet bumps up against the question the Broadway musical confronts, the reality challenging Monhegan's church with its roots in a particular tradition.  Life’s too large to be contained within the limits of a song, a poem, or a single way of thinking.  

Mindfulness practice offers us something helpful in the face of our need to measure and make sense.  Mindfulness practice invites us to pause from the demanding and overwhelming pace of daily life…to slow down and allow our attention to settle gently upon the breath, the words of a poem, the sunlight coming in through the window.  When we’re mindful of the present moment, life is not too-much and the questions about how we measure are not so important.

Like a Billy Collins poem or a toe-tapping Broadway number, mindfulness practice is playful.  Come experience for yourself in the beautiful Beechwood space…enjoy live music (this week, oboist Barbara Midney)...and connect with supportive community.

Come take good care of yourself in the company of others.  Bring a friend!