I Read it in a Letter
A beautiful reminder of the importance of now.
My grandfather’s brother wrote to him in 1953 after having returned to their childhood home in South Africa. The poignancy of the missive and the importance of its message is still as relevant today as it was then.
As I made the drive, as place after place came into sight, and as I made the ride up from the river, the feeling was intense, not joy at all, for it was sort of tears inside, happiness mingled with deep feelings of homesickness. It was the overwhelming loneliness, and no one or a dozen others there at the moment could have helped. As I went up that long drive and came up to the familiar house, there seemed to have been almost no changes. There was the church with the tungulu hedge still there, but pruned shorter, then our own house, even curtains in the windows. In my mood I think I’d scarcely have questioned it if I had seen a ghostly image of Father and Mother and even Ginger, come out the front door to greet me. It was so strong a feeling that even now I have a sort of greyish, diaphanous picture of them coming out of the door.
Life gets no longer, and this would be a gentle reminder to both of us, and gentle is all I’ll want again.
The summation of this trip is that life is short, that we have failed to get as much pleasure as we should. And since all we ever have for doing things is the present, we’d better make the most of it. It’s now that counts.
I hope I can take my own advice.
Blessed be.
Michelle x
Michelle Cowles
Spiritual Leader/Teacher/Learner
Copyright Michelle Cowles 2024
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