I had just talked with my Mom, Blanche Reis, on the phone one morning. She told me that things in Bellows Falls are about the same, but that her cousin Amelia Belzac, God rest her bountiful soul, had passed away and that the burial took place at Sacred Heart Cemetery Grounds with snow on the ground.
When I arrived home to my little house in India, after three months in New England, I had to take my shoes off and walk barefoot in the garden just to get myself readjusted. It is so warm here right now with chickens pecking at worms in the soft soil and the parrots flying through the coconut trees screeching with glee.
I hoped that Amelia, who I loved dearly, and who I had spent many happy childhood days with might pass over my speck of the Universe on her Grand Journey to her resting place. Would I feel her presence if she did? I wondered.
Here in the spiritual India I inhabit, the emphasis is on the Soul. People regard each lifetime as an increment in the Soul's journey towards final mergence with God, by whatever name they choose to call that Power.
When I was back in Vermont and studying about the indigenous Abenaki peoples who used to fish and camp alongside the falls in our sweet town I learned that the Abenaki believe in the God spark in all living things, that part of the Great Spirit that is immortal….just like India.
It's such a beautiful world when we focus on the good and the positive around us. For instance, I really enjoyed being in the snow back home in Bellows Falls and walking through the slushy streets, thinking of how everything would be so green come spring. After all, that's how our state got its name, the Green Mountain State.
There is lots of snow here too, up in the north, especially in the Himalayas. In fact, the northern state of Himachal Pradesh is named after the words Hima Challa which mean, Ice Heart. It is said by the spiritual elders here that the person who develops a heart that is pure and cool as ice is someone who can best serve humanity. In so many indigenous cultures, it is the heart that is regarded as more important than the head. In other words, the feeling one has for life is genuine, while the head, the mind, the thoughts, can deceive.
I worship the Himalayas; they remind me in a colossal way of the Green Mountains of my heartland, covered in snow, the Soul of my native place.
It is often during the coldest parts of winter that I get my best insights, that I can go deeply within and commune with God. This is why so many pilgrims flock to the Himalayas. It is there, at the top of the world, that they feel close to the Great Spirit. So many places of worship are there.
The town of Puttaparthi, where I live, is waking up right now and people are hurrying off to the market to get the best of the fruits and vegetables that the local farmers have brought in from their planting fields. Today I will buy bananas, three for a penny, some mandarin oranges, one for a penny, and a pound of potatoes.... a whopping 10 cents. Later I will take my shirt to the tailor to be mended for less than a quarter.
I wish I could send all that is good about India home to you so that your lives would be more comfortable. And I wish that the special strength of character that resides especially in the hearts of the folks of Bellows Falls could be spread like maple syrup over some weary hearts here.
For now, I send heaps of sunshine and truckloads of my love.
Catch you later!
Terry Reis Kennedy
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