“Our encounters with strangers—the unknown, the unexpected, foreign elements that spark our fear—are precisely the places where we are most likely to encounter God.” ~ Christine Valters Paintner
What sparks your fear?
Encounters
No return
It is said that before entering the sea
a river trembles with fear.
She looks back at the path she has traveled,
from the peaks of the mountains,
the long winding road crossing forests and villages.
And in front of her,
she sees an ocean so vast,
that to enter
there seems nothing more than to disappear forever.
But there is no other way.
The river can not go back. … ~ Khalil Gibran
Where do these lines take you?
Start close in
Start close in,
don’t take the second step
or the third,
start with the first
thing
close in,
the step
you don’t want to take. ~ David Whyte
What is your first step?
With the Eyes of the Heart 