Seeing grace, beyond the shadows
A view near Lake Pinneo in Quechee, Vermont, on Saturday afternoon. (Gareth Henderson Photo)
The winter landscape has always offered unique grace, a settled feeling that touches the heart with peace. Even as we experience the frigid air, a ski over snow on a bluebird winter day brings the serenity of nature alive, and invigorates every moment.
That's what we felt Saturday during a cross-country ski outing around Lake Pinneo in Quechee. Vibrant blues and purples danced amid the shadows around that stunning landscape of white, with clusters of trees, gentle slopes and the nearby Ottauquechee River adding their majestic accents to this natural canvas. Their contrasting colors blended, and also stood alone in their individual beauty, as we continued with our skis moving in the tracks over the trail.
Taken moment by moment, this experience seemed a world apart from the seeming chaos and unrest going on in the world. Each glide of the ski was grounded in a moment of stillness. It was an opportunity to just be in the presence of the expression of quiet joy, experiencing the peace in nature, with its harmony, poise and steady calm. The brilliant rays of the sun, even when it began to drop below the hills mid-afternoon, touched everything along the way. That was even true in the darker corners of the trail, where shadows grew. But this is for certain: Even small instances of light managed to establish themselves amid those deep blues and purples, where no light seemed to be.
The same is true in life itself, including instances where significant challenges appear to stand in the way of progress. Indeed, the start of the legislative session this past week in Vermont has highlighted numerous issues. The pandemic, the economy, labor shortages and related problems loom large as Vermont, other states and the world seek the right path forward. Political and social discord can appear to block out hope and the growth in grace that is still available, even in the darkest hour. Sometimes the path forward appears greatly troubled, but as with graceful long shadows, the light has an elevating impact and shows a different viewpoint. Seeing this broader view, we can let that grace go before us and embrace its inherent stillness. We can choose to set our skis in hopeful tracks, remember the progress that’s been made, and know that, working together for the greater good, more good things await us in the future. A better tomorrow is not lost, and it is never quite as distant as the gloomy shadows make it seem.
The landscape of life includes the brilliant light of grace, which radiates through our experience at this very moment and remains available to each one of us. A simple, graceful act of kindness may seem like just a few rays of sunshine shining over the mountain top, at the end of a long day. But they are still the sun’s rays, nonetheless. At any point of the day, we have the power to stop and consider the radiant landscape of life, see a few of those rays, and know the grace-giving light of love still remains. This light has abundant life, far beyond the shadows, and we have the opportunity to see it grow into brighter horizons for one and all.
— Gareth Henderson
Trees are surrounded by light and shadows in Quechee, Vt., Saturday afternoon. (Gareth Henderson Photo)
