Kouki, a Song, and a Prayer

It’s a sunny, beautiful Sunday. The blossoms are really coming out now. There’s a big magnolia tree which Al and I walk down to quite often, and it’s at its peak.

I found a breakthrough with a song I’ve been working on for a year or so now. It’s a sombre song, and originally I had written it, with Al’s help, with a ‘lift’ at the end. I didn’t know quite what that should be, but I knew I wanted it to end on a hopeful note. It took me until now to find that, and I’m very grateful that I have. It felt like I successfully “got out of my own way” and let the thing come through.
We went and bought a few groceries today. The cashiers were wearing blue gloves. At one store, there were several aisles with empty shelves. As we drove around from place to place, I said to Al that you can feel the energy of the world is subdued. It’s not just that there are fewer people out (the brunch spot by our house was full, with a queue. Will Portland brunchers stop at nothing?), it’s an energy.

We’ve listened to enough spiritual podcasts recently for me to know that energy is everywhere. It reminds me of an anime we used to watch called Mushishi in which there was a substance called “kouki”. It was a golden sake, which was the source of all life, flowing through the world, only visible to those who knew how to see it.
That being the case, there is a definite energetic change in the world right now. So many people slowing down, staying in and being with each other, or perhaps themselves. I think of the people who are at risk. My friend Patrick, who works at the Portland Rescue Mission, was telling me about the worry they are all feeling. They say that the high risk people are those with respiratory problems, compromised immune systems, the elderly, lifetime smokers. He said to me “if there’s one thing we have, it’s old smokers”.

We listened to a podcast about prayer recently, and how it can have surprising and powerful effects. I hope that is true, because I and many others I’m sure are praying for those people. May they find the help they need.