Pulse

When medical trauma is potentially fatal, medical professionals quickly check the victim's pulse. A steady heartbeat is good news: Life abides. In much the same way, healthy lives are experienced as steady rhythms--sowing and reaping, the progression of seasons, and the recurrence of holidays, birthdays, and anniversaries. Our daily routines--meals, chores, shopping cleaning, and relaxing--are wave sets that tell us it's alright. Calamities and disasters, on the other hand, break up the rhythm and bring pain. Is life cyclical? Eastern philosophy would say so, but the Western mind tends to see experience as a linear progression--a steady upward climb. The Eastern view has much to recommend it. We gather with those we love for a time, but must say goodbye for a while. My mother has been visiting this weekend. After a fully pleasant 48 hours here in the southland, she will return this afternoon to her home in the Bay Area. Fortunately, we will see her and the rest of the Nor Cal Gang a month from now. When we gather, we'll enjoy each other's company, eat together, and laugh excessively. When it's time, we'll return to our semi-separate lives. We will do so optimistically, confident in the expectation that we will soon meet again to enjoy each other's company. In this cyclical way, life and love are affirmed. Together, we feel the pulse and know that all is well.