What a grandparent might like to offer

boys go shooting

Every Grandparent wants their children and children's children to have all the best things they can offer. That's why on their arrival, Grandpa makes his favourite dishes.  His are moules mariniéres, steak and kidney pudding, taramasalata, oysters and revolting rognons de veau, and Granny's are probably fish pie and marmalade.  There is fishing and shooting and dogs and cousins and oysters occasionally. 

favoured dog Algie

We love them playing croquet with us, swimming in the chilly pond and in the  cold and brown North Sea.  We love them coming into our bed in the morning for family chats and the comfort of the big bed all covered with dogs and a now a new baby and cries of 'mind the tea' as a dog moves and all the while Grandpa is dishing out early morning wisdom.  We love all this and we hope they can keep all this cheerful stuff going for their children's children and on and on from that.  But what we can only offer but won't ever know if it has made any impact, is access to the deeper reality which underpins the whole jolly show.  This is because the show isn't always feeling so jolly; bad things appear in the everyday world of passing scenes; sickness, accidents, jealousies and resentments and how can you manage those things if you don't have anywhere to sort them out.

oyster fest

Meditation may not always seem peaceful but it is like putting money in a bank penny by penny and occasionally a pound or more.  It builds up and then when you have to face any of the above and you can't get your teeth into the steak and kidney pudding or you have lost your taste for fish pie, when you can't play croquet and you can't any longer reach your toes and put your socks on, then it is good to be able to sit unconcerned in the space which you and many meditators have worked to give everyone access to.  

meditation place