When being is enough

Before we left Portland yesterday we took some time and went to visit a dear old friend of mine from high school (thank you, Facebook!).

We had, as always, a wonderful time talking, and she graciously allowed me to wander through her home with my camera, photographing their many amazing works of art (they really should turn this home into a gallery; it's just delightful!)

There were many angels scattered about, partly in testament to the holiday season, but my memory is that there are almost always angels floating about her place.  This one, with its bemused expression, particularly struck me this morning.  And I think it's because the role of angel has been unexpectedly thrust upon her: she's really just a wooden doll, and someone has dressed her up with a wire robe, and wings, and a halo, and it's not all that clear she's ready for the role.

What I love about that is the humility of it.  I think we all -- even my husband -- get regarded as angels from time to time for doing things that just seem, well... right.  We just do whatever the situation requires, and then, sometimes, someone elevates that with some extraordinary appreciation. 

And now I wonder if we weren't all born to be angels; if maybe, just be being present and doing what seems called for in the moment, we are living into our angelic heritage.  I like to think we don't get all noble and beatific about it; that somehow the moments are thrust on us, and don't even fit all that well, and somehow good is done through us without our really being all that intentional about it.

Or maybe if we just keep the intention -- to aid mankind, to be compassionate, to be present -- kind of bubbling on the back burner, the way we always used to keep a bucket of water on the woodstove in the winter -- it might help someone, somewhere, breathe a little easier?

There is this temptation to feel we have to do something really significant to make the world a better place; something visible and noble.  But perhaps intention is enough, and our job is just to go about the business of living our lives: getting through the hard parts, sharing when we can, resting when we get the chance, loving even when it's difficult, and being present to whatever steps into the path.

At any rate, I'm thinking this may be the year to explore that possibility: to step back from doing into being, and see what emerges.  For those of us who are driven to succeed, that kind of stepping off the treadmill can take a lot of energy.  But I think it will be worth it. 

Because the truth is, this is what I love to do: blogging, writing, photography, meditating -- and maybe, for now, that's enough.