The Bright Power of Nature & Friendship

On our walk along the coast, you could see the colorful, run down houses in the distance. Traffic roared past, at some points louder than others.

We were heading toward an old fishing neighborhood in Las Palmas. There were natural pools we thought to bathe in under the full, corn moon.

Fisherman were out on the rocky shore, filling their buckets with small crabs to use as bait. Abuelos and abuelas sat outside on beach chairs chatting away.

Once we got to the quiet village, we passed a terraza. The moon hadn't yet risen, so we had time for some calamari and pimientos de padrón. We sat at a table closer to the water, adding our voices to the hum of conversation, alongside the lapping waves of the sea.

There were only three of us for our women's circle. I had only met Maria 4 times, and I had just met Marta a couple of days prior. But the friendship and connection were instantaneous. As we chatted over our small meal, we suddenly realized we hadn't seen the moon yet.

Marta was the first to spot it. Hidden behind a group of people who happened to position themselves right between us and the stunning, yellow globe that drew a surprised gasp from me. Large and round as the sun can sometimes appear in our sky, I marveled at its brightness and jumped out of my chair to try to capture its beauty with my phone.

After the moon had fully risen, back to its glowing white, we found ourselves on a small, hidden beach for our women's circle. We opened with a poem, written by Maria's sister, then played ancestral music as we journaled silently.

Under the light of the moon, buoyed by the music and the sound of gentle waves set into motion by our moon, I found myself overflowing with gratitude. Each time I thought of someone or something I was grateful for, another person or thing immediately came to my mind. My heart filled with light and warmth.

Closing our circle with a group hug, Marta's eyes filled with tears as we thanked each other.

This is the power of nature.

This is the power of friendship.

In a world where our lives can sometimes move at lightning speed, where goals and objectives can sometimes consume us, where negativity and violence seem to be the only things around us, nature and friendship are vital.

They are the harbingers of hope and love. The shining light we need to pierce the heavy darkness. They bring balance to the world, much as our moon does.

There is an analogy in Nichiren Buddhism - “If one lights a fire [lantern] for others, one will brighten one’s own way”. This speaks more to the benefit we gain by helping those around us. But let's expand a bit.

If each human being embodies a lantern, and yet our flames are diminished, whether from loneliness, depression, anger, etc., our world is subsequently in darkness.

And when we brighten our flames and help others to strengthen theirs? If we each shone as brightly as the corn moon, or as our sun, and encouraged others to shine brighter as well...

Can you picture it? The beacons of light filling our world?