Simply Live

"As we advance on the path, we will not have to strive so hard to remember that all things are impermanent, that everything is nothing, and that any refuge we find here on earth is not real refuge at all. Eventually we will discover that sometimes we need to forget these things and simply live.” Teresa of Avila, The Book of My Life (1562)

I had a wonderful “simply live” moment this week that could become a prayer for many of us if we would consciously give ourselves a little time to stop striving and start enjoying the small pleasures we find in everyday life.

It’s summertime in Minnesota which means many days of blue skies and bright sunshine along with leafy green trees in the woods and warm(er) water in the lakes. July also means it’s berry time, so last weekend Brad and I went raspberry picking at a farm just outside of Duluth. An hour’s worth of raspberry picking was eaten up before Brad went back to work on Monday, and those berries definitely were a significant part of our long and lovely weekend.

Then on Tuesday night of this week Brad and I had dinner with a group of friends not too far from Big Fork, Minnesota, at an old lodge tucked away in the woods. The lodge had views of water on two of its four sides—I loved the view—and we ate dinner inside an old screened porch which has for more than fifty years provided many memorable summer nights like the one we were experiencing. The dinner was carefully prepared—asparagus wrapped in bacon, walleye, fresh bread with flecks of wild rice—and served with love by the host’s grandchildren. However, the most special part of the dinner was the dessert—five fresh blueberry pies the host had made the night before.

It’s been a long time since I enjoyed blueberry pie with a generous scoop of ice cream, and I loved every bite. “Simply live” is what Teresa would have said if she had been with us on the porch. Sometimes life gets reduced to small bites of fresh pie made by a man who spent his summers picking blueberries near the woods. As he talked about being young and picking berries, as he talked about baking pies and getting them all just right, as I listened and ate and then ate some more, I found myself making a memory that will live inside me for a long, long time.

The wise ones have much to teach us: All things are impermanent, everything ends up being nothing in the end, and any refuge we find is not lasting. But still, it’s helpful to remember that although life is full of uncertainty and doubt, there are those golden moments when we can rest at night telling stories and laughing with friends and family, enjoying a multitude of plump blueberries baked inside a most delicious blueberry pie.

How good it is to simply live!