Lovers delight in surprising one another...

Surprises. Whenever I am surprised, I jump. I am startled. (I like that word: it describes well all that goes on when an unexpected element 'startles' me. Say that I am absorbed in a task, whether reading, looking at the monitor, or even daydreaming, and someone - even those close and dear to me - comes up from behind, or from the side, or encroach somehow into my peripheral range of vision, I jump! I might  even come out with a shout: i.e., I am startled!

Well, reading this book by an author that is real 'neat'...I am chewing every paragraph, every page...he writes that "Lovers delight in surprising one another with little signs of love". He develops the thought  further, and writes:"They know this is what love is like - always delighting in catching one another off guard with unexpected manifestations of love". Neat!...'been there, done that', no?

Well, on a return trip from Albuquerque, where we had enjoyed several talks by the author, Jim Finley, talks which I liked so that I had to buy one of his books, and while flying over a mantle of white, soft clouds, so soft a flight that "not even a creature was stirring, not even a..." - just like the song - I read: "Learning not to be surprised by the ways in which you are perpetually surprised, you will learn to rest in an abiding sense of confidence in God". I read again. again. The 'bulb' flashed!

Here I am, sitting by the aisle, consciously (and subconsciously) keeping tabs on every movement of the plane - the engine pitch, subtle changes in direction, etc. - all, behaviors of alertness given my uncomfortableness with riding in an airplane. Spending energy in this alert state was I, yet realizing that the winter storm had left a calm sky behind its path and that in fact, this was a much pleasurable, soft, quiet, noiseless (you know what I mean...) ride. As I am sinking into that realization, this line comes up in my reading, and it 'hits' me. "...perpetually surprised": yes. Always waiting - and expecting - for the 'other shoe to drop' - always! and this line invites me "to learn_to rest_in an abiding sense of confidence...". wow! As I was about to sink into the seat and release all the work I was doing (holding the plane up and still), and as we had started the leveling off at 5 - 6 miles 'up there',  this 'brilliance' comes up for me. "Learn to rest". "Rest in (an abiding) a sense of confidence". Rest in...trust. Trust that...everything will be 'OK'. Trust. That the universe is good. That goodness will come your way. That 'ok - ness' is here, now. Look out the window and see the beauty of the blue sky, and the white clouds. See. The immensity. The peacefulness. Drop into the seat. Rest your back against the back of the seat. Drop your sit bones into the seat. Breathe! My yoga practice commands were coming up for me. Rest. trust. Confide!

Crystal clear...just like the view out of the window. Even the definition of  the term 'confide', includes 'rest':"To put faith (in); to repose confidence; to trust;".

For the moment there was no need, no urgency, no reprimand for not including the last two terms in my 'got it!' moment: "in God". Just the mere sense of becoming aware of my "perpetually being surprised", and all the energy that is invested in that state, brought about a deep sense of inner peace, as I was taking the first steps of "learning not to be surprised..but learning to rest in an abiding sense of confidence...in the goodness of everything outside me...".

Wow. Neat! Lots to munch on. Thank you, Mr. Finley.

What a neat surprise!...was I just surprised...caught off guard?