Thursday, January 20, 2011

It Was Early



It was early, which has always been my hour to begin looking at the world

and of course, even in the darkness, to begin listening into it,

especially under the pines where the owl lives and sometimes calls out

as I walk by, as he did on this morning. So many gifts!

What do they mean?  In the marshes where the pink light was just arriving

the mink with his bristle tail was stalking the soft-eared mice,

and in the pines the cones were heavy, each one ordained to open.

Sometimes I need only to stand wherever I am to be blessed.

Little mink, let me watch you.
 Little mice, run and run.
Dear pine cone, let me hold you as you open.



I wonder how you awoke this morning? Did you have doubts of your kind?  Perhaps there are certain politicians whose rhetoric exasperates you, or the latest tally from terrorist bombing correlates with how many fewer times you will express today.  Maybe you are thinking of the tender children who cannot run away from abusing adults, who could not run away from their circumstances either.

What if, as we think of how we are hunted and haunted each in our own way, we choose this today to be blessed.  We watch the harm, we watch the fear, and we watch the chase, which is a dance, isn't?  

Then in response, we choose to bless the world and hold all lives, mean and small, knowing that the human heart may yet open.  Maybe today.

Who do you hold today in hopes it will open?

2 comments:

  1. I awoke to look out my window at a peaceful scene of my woods with the light just starting to be visible, silhouetting the trees. By the time it was light enough to see the green grass a very small squirrel was searching for even one acorn. He looked very hungry. I then turned on the news and heard that 120 or so mafia members had been arrested. Yes, I sometimes wonder about our species.

    You asked who we might hold today in hopes it might open. I would hold a young girl in my neighborhood whose baby is due the second week of February. She has a job in a day care and will continue to live with her parents. She isn't having a shower. So I took her a shower gift anyway. The reality is crushing in on her. She figured she would be able to go back to work shortly after the baby arrives and put him in day care with her. It turns out that he is on a waiting list and it may be August before he might be accepted. She called other day cares and learned what the non-discount rates are for day care. What a surprise she had. There will be many surprises ahead and I hope she can open and blossom with each new responsibility. She is more mature than some and I know her to be very kind and caring so she should be able to handle the baby. At least the father wants to help. The last I heard he was trying to enlist in the military in order to earn money to send for the baby. He has been unable to get work. I want to hold her in my thoughts and watch her open to motherhood.

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  2. This is lovely. I stumbled across your blog just now. Thank you for your gentleness.

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