The Lingering Hours

Some of my fondest memories are of times spent around a table, sipping coffee, losing track of time in the midst of good company and conversation. The tables may be different, the faces change from time to time, but there is a universal quality to the time -- lingering hours -- where we pause, where we stay present, where we listen and share new stories and old tales, philosophical speculations and only-in-that-moment humor. In the lingering hours tasks are laid aside, agendas lost, and watches forgotten. Such times open up the possibility for rising to numinousness, when all present are fully present in the moment, attentive, engaged, open, free, connected one with all present, all with each one present. This is communion through and true. Cherish lingering hours.