The word juxtaposition is so wonderful, reminding us that life is layered and complicated and ironic and conflicted. The sacred and the ordinary — those things occupy the same spaces.
We started at the Bison Range…
This gem of a place is maybe an hour or so from my house.
Did you know that bison were all but extinct, and that their destruction was part of the plan to eliminate/control/hurt Native people in the USA?
Sometimes history is a heavy burden to bear but that doesn’t mean we ignore it.
We should listen and learn from uncomfortable Truths — and be better.
How perfectly wonderful to have one of my Perfect Sisters here. I am so lucky to have TWO of them. This is my Irish Twin — we are 10 months and 26 days apart in age…
A Californian bundled up — because 50 is cold when you come from the Sunshine state!
After driving slowly on a well-traveled track like we were on a ride at Wildlife Disneyland — while contemplating genocide and feeling gratitude and awe for survival — we moved on down the road, literally and metaphorically…
Juxtaposition indeed.
In the middle of western Montana…
The whole place was confounding. What the heck?! In Arlee, Montana?!
Yep.
An angel? With a thousand Buddhas?
That caused me to read up on whether Buddhists believe in angels. The world is filled with opportunities and invitations to learn things, isn’t it?
Including, it turns out, from rocks…
#truth
Those who took the bison from millions to 100 could not have been following the Buddha.
I learned that as the wind blows through prayer flags, messages of peace, compassion, and good will are being spread…
I wonder — does one have to open and ready to receive such messages? To learn the lessons?
And how can we remain open and receptive to messages and lessons that show up in the most unlikely places?
And as we walked back to the van…
Juxtaposition indeed.