EQUINOX

MISSISSIPI RIVER SEPTEMBER 2010

Martha sometimes reminds me that I have often expressed my desire for balance throughout our 58 years together. This is September, the season of balance or equinox.  The clarity of daytime hours are equal to the nighttime mysteries. High energy daylight is balanced by restful, healing of the dark. One is not superior to the other.  They are just different gifts.  They are, as the word “equinox” reminds us, equal. Ecclesiastes says, “For everything there is a season, and a time for every purpose.” Where  joy and peace are concerned only the present--regardless of what the clock says--is the preferred place. So right now I am at peace.  Crisp and energizing mornings.  Warm, nurturing afternoons. So Charlie wonders if his love of balance and equity is what has made his life situation (including finances, politics and religion) turn in a more moderate direction. This does not lead me to simply find the middle ground and stay there. Those of us who choose to walk down the center of the road  are not playing it safe. We get rocks thrown at us from both sides of the street.  Aristotle pointed out that eating 100 pounds of food a day was obviously too much. Eating no food at all was obviously too little. Therefore, to eat fifty pounds of food a day was not the moderate alternative!