The Signature of Being
By Mark Nepo
Posted on
As published in Mark’s Weekly Reflections: Field Notes on Living, March 23, 2020
I stop in the middle of our conversation on the street and feel those around us working on themselves and their relationships, solving problems and imagining new ways of being. For a moment, as the sun comes through, I can sense the entire city at work on their worth, unlacing trouble, looking for peace, each trying in their own way to be kind and useful in the face of storm and time. I am stopped by the sound and glow of souls being hammered in the smithy of circumstance. I lift my face to the sun, thankful to be part of an unfinished humanity, everyone trying to find the love and keep the love, everyone working as a part in the unseeable Whole. All of us like a medieval guild working in the sun: this one repairing a wheel, that one cobbling a shoe, and another repairing the path, while someone over there is baking bread. And the secret is revealed: we are never more alive than when working on the way.
A Question from Mark to Walk With: In conversation with a friend or loved one, describe a process of inquiry, building, creating, or repairing that you are fully engaged in. What is this engagement bringing alive in you?
This is the title piece from Mark’s book in progress, The Signature of Being. Mark will be at Mercy by the Sea, August 28 – 30, 2020, to lead the weekend retreat, “Reduced to Joy: The Journey from Our Head to Our Heart.” The weekend will include a book signing. Learn more and/or register online on our website.