every drop, every petal

All know that the drop merges into the ocean
but few know that the ocean merges into the drop.
--Kabir

My mother-in-law gave me a 2008 calendar that I am enjoying every day. (I can't resist noting that the calendar distributor has this squared circle as its logo). Since the calendar hangs right at eye level in the bathroom, I have a chance to study it every night while flossing and brushing my teeth. The above line from the Indian poet Kabir is printed on the March pages.

I think this idea that the whole exists for the one as well as the other way around is so very important but, still, I tend to doubt it. And then I see this (and the photo above), photographed by Libby.


I'm reminded of this quotation from a Dostoyevsky novel I've always intended to read.

Love all God's creation, the whole and every grain of sand of it. Love every leaf, every ray of God's light. Love the animals, love the plants, love everything. If you love everything, you will perceive the divine mystery in things. Once you perceive it, you will begin to comprehend it better every day. And you will come at last to love the whole world with an all-embracing love.

- Father Zosima of Dostoyevsky's The Brothers Karamazov

Thank you, Libby, for sharing what your eyes and your soul see--the whole and every petal of it.