July 18 Daily Entry -- Rain

It's rainy today, and the park is wet. Some of us are here anyway.

Everyone who is here today is here for their own purpose, but it doesn't matter. No one here has to justify who they are or what they are doing. There are people touring, working, birdwatching, or just here to sit. All are welcome. And all are encouraged to enjoy.

No one looks down on you for enjoying the park. It is a pleasure that cannot be turned into a vice. No one knows why you are here, who you are, what your life is like. Everyone here is a fellow enjoyer-of-the-park, and others' enjoyment only enhances our own.

We leave each other alone. There are no expectations for us to smile, or talk, or serve, or entertain. I owe these people nothing. We just all come here individually, like animals to a watering hole, to bask in nature and achieve our own purposes.

Once again it appears to me as a church. Though the day is rainy, come ye steadfast, be in the presence of the birds and the trees, and let your heart be healed.

You are not separate from this. Everything that is in the park is in you, too. And there is nothing in you that is not in this park.

This is a reminder of who you are. Of the world you were once from, before your kind began playing with symbolic thought, assigning value to things, and building structures to separate you from your natural habitat.

You could sit in this park all day, never leave this haven, and still be as human as those on the outside. Perhaps even more so, because you are aware of your roots.