Day’s end was spent in a leisurely walk by the Fox River in the vicinity of the Fabyan Japanese Tea Garden.  The walk was a welcome conclusion to a summer day of work.  Camera in hand I paid attention to the wild flowers which grow there in abundance.  Walking around the Tea Garden I captured the views that suggested the purpose of this place.  I felt a shiver of recognition when I arrived at the towering torii gateway which marks the main pathway into the garden.  A Torii is marking for sacred space.  I already felt the place to be sacred.  The torii is an affirmation that others also recognize this to be a place of “the gods.” 

Included in these photos are views of the winding path that takes one though the garden, and a view of the tea house, which awaits the arrival of the tea master and guests.  Upon arrival the ceremony of tea begins.  “The way of tea,” is a practice, a discipline by which the recipient achieves the necessary skill-set for appreciation, for connoisseurship of tea.  One learns by apprenticeship, observing and imitating one who knows, a master. 

Life is a journey, and there are many paths, many ways by which we have opportunity to learn to be human.

Look for the sacred gateway.

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How about a song to help us through the night?  This one by Savage Garden is perfect!

Truly Madly Deeply

By Savage Garden

I’ll be your dream
I’ll be your wish
I’ll be your fantasy
I’ll be your hope
I’ll be your love
Be everything that you need

I’ll love you more with every breath
Truly, madly, deeply do
I will be strong
I will be faithful
‘Cause I’m counting on
A new beginning
A reason for living
A deeper meaning, yeah

I wanna stand with you on a mountain
I wanna bathe with you in the sea
I wanna lay like this forever
Until the sky falls down on me

And when the stars are shining brightly in the velvet sky,
I’ll make a wish, send it to heaven then make you want to cry
The tears of joy for all the pleasure and the certainty
That we’re surrounded by the comfort and protection of the highest powers
In lonely hours
The tears devour you

I wanna stand with you on a mountain
I wanna bathe with you in the sea
I wanna lay like this forever
Until the sky falls down on me

Oh, can you see it, baby?
You don’t have to close your eyes
‘Cause it’s standing right before you
All that you need will surely come

I’ll be your dream
I’ll be your wish
I’ll be your fantasy
I’ll be your hope
I’ll be your love
Be everything that you need

I’ll love you more with every breath
Truly, madly, deeply do
(I love you)

I wanna stand with you on a mountain
I wanna bathe with you in the sea
I wanna lay like this forever
Until the sky falls down on me

I wanna stand with you on a mountain
I wanna bathe with you in the sea
I want to live like this forever
Until the sky falls down on me

Lyrics composed by Darren Stanley Hayes and Daniel Jones