WATERmeditation September 2026: “Mutual Gaze” with Virginia Day
Follow-up Notes to WATERMeditation “Mutual Gaze” with Virginia Day, Monday, September 21, 2026, 7:30 PM ET
WATER is deeply grateful to Virginia Day for a beautiful reflection, “Mutual Gaze,” with a seagull friend. Her experience with a seagull showed us a good deal about connections.
The video of the session can be found at: https://www.waterwomensalliance.org/september-2026-mutual-gaze/.
Last month we heard from Jeanne Christensen on friendship. She chose the comment from Dorothy Parker, “Constant use will not wear ragged the fabric of friendship,” as her theme as she described the preciousness of old friends and new. That video and notes can be found at: WATERmeditation July 2026: “Friendship” with Jeanne Christensen – WATER – Womens Alliance for Theology, Ethics and Ritual.
Mary E. Hunt’s Introduction to Virginia Day:
Virginia Day has shared so many memorable meditations with us. My introductions of her are in the notes to earlier meditations, so tonight I will simply say that she is the nurse you want to have when you’re ill, and the spiritual director you want when things are murky. I have grown to know her, a la Jeanne Christensen, as a friend, someone I respect and can rely on.
I picture Virginia in her high-rise apartment where she lives, and on the beach that she loves. What I learn from her is that life-work balance is not trivial. People who do what she does need to model that to help the rest of us. I am grateful.
We learned about buttons from Virginia, and “what makes all the difference” another time—these are on our website under WATERmeditations for your use. Tonight, with Virginia Day, we turn to the topic of “Mutual Gaze” for another dimension of a good life. Thanks in anticipation, Virginia.
Virginia Day’s Remarks
Thank you for the opportunity to be with you as a community on this late September evening and for the opportunity to sit quietly for 20 minutes or so.
When I first shared my plans for a suggested topic and theme with Mary Hunt about the MUTUAL GAZE between a seagull and me, it was early August. Even in the short weeks that followed our world changed.
Today, September 21, 2026, we encounter an even more complex world and encounter even more unknowns: the ethics of AI, our war-torn areas of Gaza, Ukraine, Sudan, and the natural disasters of Venezuela and Nepal, more recent ICE arrests as well as the personal concerns of Mary and Diann, whom we also hold close this night.
But my hope this evening is that my encounter with a seagull and quite incidentally – a brief reading of Rilke about ATTENTION, will offer a word or thought to guide your quiet time.
THE SEAGULL. It was a cloudy morning and following a gentle rain, I drove to a near-by beach and parked the car for quiet time with a cup of tea, a muffin, and the newspapers.
The parking area was deserted, except for a lone seagull that stopped on the pavement, right next to my car. Undisturbed, we looked at each other for minutes and the encounter even allowed for a photograph. Needless to say, thanks to this unique new friendship, I had my topic and theme. As I scribbled my thoughts on paper, trying not to frighten off my new friend, I composed this verse:
“You are just living your seagull life; looking at me… looking at you
Not thinking about what you did yesterday
Nor thoughts or plans for today or tomorrow
Unconcerned about what you will carry in your beak or when
YOU ARE LIVING YOUR SEAGULL LIFE!”
Coincidently, my adventure and potential relationship, was not unique and Mary Hunt sent me the August 2, 2026 Washington Post article “One Roams the Sky, the Other the Sea”, about the unbreakable bond between a lobster boat captain and a seagull. So my experience was not unique.
It was only weeks later that I came to fully appreciate my encounter as the gift of paying ATTENTION.
The poet Rainer Maria Rilke describes writing as arising from the depths of life experience. He writes, and I quote Rilke here, “One must see more cities, people and things. One must know the animals; one must feel how the birds fly and know the gesture with which the small flowers open in the morning in order to even write a single verse.” Rainer Maria Rilke, The Notebooks of Malte Laurids Brigge (B. Pike, Trans), Dalkey Archive Press, 2008 (Original work published 1910).
As we begin our quiet time together, you are invited to reflect on two questions if they are helpful:
- Who or what captured your gaze or attention today?
- Who or what is in need of your attention?
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Period of Silence followed.
A Sample of Comments from Participants:
- One colleague talked about a family that experienced great tragedy. The father killed their children and himself. The mother has been a good friend of our colleague. Their time together on the day of our meeting was a deep mutual encounter, a shared gaze of two women united in friendship.
- Another spoke of appreciating religious icons at which he gazed. Rather than just paying attention to what he sees, he allows himself to be seen. The icons gaze back at him. He concluded: “Turn to the birds of the air, they will tell you the truth,” Book of Job, 12:7.
- A colleague described the beauty of birds, including seagulls, in her beach setting. Wordless communication with a gull is powerful. She also mentioned what has invited her gaze is sunsets which she sees from her 8th floor balcony.
- One person described a tragedy in her family that resulted in her being kept from communicating with her nephew. But a recent connection with him gave her hope that she might continue to stay close to the nephew. We pray so with her.
- Some women immigrants were the subject of another member’s gaze. It is a peaceful gaze, including a sense of personal acceptance for being where our colleague is and where she needs to be.
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October will be a Month of Action for WATER. Regular programs will continue in November and December.
WATER thanks Virginia Day and all of the participants of a moving and enriching Meditation session. Special thanks to Cheryl Nichols for hosting and to Brooke Andrews for IT support