August 5, 2026
by Reverend René
"Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?"
— Mary Oliver, The Summer Day
There is something about summer that invites us to slow down. The longer days, the warmth of the sun, the sound of birdsong, the gentle rhythm of nature — all seem to whisper, “pay attention”.
Mary Oliver's beloved poem doesn't end with an answer. It ends with a question. A sacred question that echoes through every season of our lives:
What do you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?
Perhaps before we can answer that question, we must learn something even more foundational.
We must learn to pay attention.
This month, as we continue our journey through The Way of Mastery, Lesson 8 reminds us that awareness is the doorway to spiritual awakening. Every thought, every feeling, every belief, every intention is like dropping a pebble into the still pool of consciousness. Each pebble creates ripples that eventually become the life we experience.
The invitation, then, is not to strive harder. It is to awaken more fully.
Moment by moment.
Breath by breath.
What am I noticing?
What am I thinking?
What am I feeling?
What inspires me?
What am I choosing to place into the pool of awareness today?
When we become present to our inner landscape without judgment, we reclaim our creative power. We move from living by habit to living by intention. We become spiritually awake—not because life changes around us first, but because awareness changes everything within us.
This August, I invite you to make this a summer of presence. Take a walk without your phone. Sit quietly beneath a tree. Watch the sunrise or the evening sky. Listen deeply to someone you love. Pause before reacting. Bless each moment with your full attention and appreciation.
Our attention is devotion, one of the purest expressions of love.
This awareness is where mastery begins.
May these beautiful summer days become sacred opportunities to remember who you are, to consciously choose what you are creating, and to discover, again and again, the miracle that is this one wild and precious life.
I look forward to walking this path of awakening with you.
With Love & Blessings,
Reverend René
Sr. Minister, Unity Renaissance,
Link to Poem: The Summer Day by Mary Oliver - Poems | Academy of American Poets