There is much the goddess saves us from: fever,
wounds and madness, coughs and colds,
plagues and smallpox, measles and sore throats,
all these she wipes away with a brush of her shawl.
There is more: wasps and little bees that nest in your house,
mushrooms which spring up in your cellar,
rats and snakes and hornets that infest your walls,
all these she wipes away with just a brush of her shawl.
~Sri Lankan Songs To The Goddess
Every day, we face the multiple irritations of life. Machines break down, schedules are broken, people are unreliable. There are periods of greater and of lesser frustration, but the fact of human life is that nothing ever runs perfectly. Learning to live in an imperfect world is a continual spiritual challenge. Like the Sri Lankan house-holder who created the vivid prayer to the Goddess above, we must constantly struggle against the diseases and disorders that are part of life.
It is useless to live in a fantasy of total order and total control. Life isn't like that. Life is hornets and little bees and sore throats. It is also splendid fall days with bright blue skies and vivid foliage. The Goddess, who is earth and its life, embraces all of these experiences and more. In accepting her, we cease to struggle against the inevitability of disorder - and we live more gracefully and happily within it.
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