The weight of arrogance is such
that no bird can fly
carrying it.
And the man who feels superior
to others, that man
cannot dance,
the real dance when the soul takes God
into its arms and you both fall
onto your knees in
gratitude,
a blessed gratitude
for life.
St. John of the Cross
I said hello and then quietly asked, “how are you?”. After all, that is what I watched my grandparents and parents do, especially when first meeting someone. Those greetings always felt warm and welcoming as though the person was a long-lost friend. Likely that sensibility was because any stranger visiting the rural area where we lived usually had a connection to a neighbor or someone nearby. Yet, my young self only absorbed a lasting impression of sense of belongingness that extended beyond family and other humans to all life.
So, when a sparrow paused outside the kitchen window, I could feel that early imprint of infinite belongingness. I also paused and felt appreciation for our mutual aliveness on this earth – each a unique expression of the invisible and ever-present spirit, and each with our own journeys to returning home to that eternal essence. Each in our own way exchanged greetings in that moment.
While I defaulted to words, the sparrow’s form of greeting was her calm and unassuming presence. There was no boastful gesture or sound. Instead, there was only a wordless alertness that seemed fully attuned to all the surrounding sounds and movements. Even though my eyes were registering a small, feathered being standing on the porch, I was experiencing an invisible sphere of raw, unadulterated presence that extended far beyond the need for names and labels.
With the bark of a dog passing on the street, the sparrow flew upward into the branches of a nearby tree. I lingered for a bit, absorbing again that feeling of infinite, and sacred, belongingness that appears in the again and again in unexpected meetings throughout life. I felt a profound gratefulness for the sparrow for rekindling a sense of humble presence within life’s dance of the ebb and flow of simple, ordinary and passing moments.
Practice
This practice invites awareness of your layers of self.
Prepare—
- Find a space where you can both move around and be comfortably seated.
- Please take a moment to clear your space of all non-medical digital devices, including watches. This practice invites your awareness that you are more than your devices and possessions.
- After clearing your space of devices, you may wish to skim through the proposed practice below and continue it without the text to the best of your memory.
- Find a comfortable standing position and loudly sigh two to three times. As you do this, imagine the deepest part of you is thanking you for setting aside time to listen and be present with yourself.
Practice—
- Still standing, take your hands and pat all the parts of your body as lightly or firmly as you wish. Imagine you are greeting all the outer parts of this amazing body that is carrying you through life.
- If you wish to take a little movement break before moving on in the practice, do so. Perhaps stretch or shake out your limbs or dance to imaginary music. If you do this, consider offering thanks to your body for allowing you to move.
- Pause and bring one hand onto your belly and the other on your chest. Breathe in (inhale) and then breathe out (exhale) at your own pace and with your own comfort level.
- As you breath, invite your hands to detect any sensation of movement associated with breathing, e.g., a gentle expansion of your torso on an exhalation.
- Imagine as you breathe that you are thanking this amazing capacity for breathing that carries your through life.
- Still standing, place your hands over the center of your chest (your heart-center). Then, stretch your arms overhead toward the sky, downward toward the earth and then out to your sides. As you stretch your arms to the sides, slowly turn in a circle as though you are reaching in every direction.
- Return to face the direction where you started. Return your hands to your heart-center.
- With your hands at your heart-center, imagine that you are thanking this invisible presence that resides within your heart-center, which is the home of your eternal essence.
- As you do this, imagine you are being greeted by this essence and thanked for remembering this core and sacred part of your being-ness that silently guides you through the journey of life.
- Come to a seated position.
- Bring your hands in prayer position over your heart-center, and gently bow your head. Then, as a gesture of appreciation of invisible guidance, bring your prayerful hands upward and touch your fingertips to your forehead. Imagine you are inviting your essence to guide your mind. Then, bring your fingertips to your lips and imagine you are inviting kind and authentic speech. Then, return your hands in front of your heart-center as a gesture of deep and reverent thankfulness.
Transition Back into Your Day—
- Still seated, invite your hands to rest wherever they are comfortable.
- Quietly sit. Imagine these moments of being seated are an opportunity to do nothing other than just quietly sit. You are complete as you are.
- When you are ready, return to your day.
This poem appears in Mala of the Heart: 108 Sacred Poems, page 11, edited by Ravi Nathwani and Kate Vogt and published by New World Library. H E A R T H is posted each new and full moon. KateVogt©2026.
