Shining Spirit

A youngster out for his first flight lesson.
He has never seen a human so close.
I wonder what he thinks about the encounter?
If he were to ask, I would say:
“You, my young friend, are wonderfully and
beautifully made.  You add so much to life:
your beauty, your song, your gracefulness in
flight…when you learn how.”

I am grateful for accidental experiences of
beauty, unexpected encounters,
like it is sometimes with God.
You turn a corner or look out a
window, and there is the revealing
of Love.  Like my little friend on the porch,
the unexpected sign of God’s creative love
in even the smallest of things.

Thanks be to God.

Memo to Self

Subj:  Things To Do Today

1.  Be Kind

2.  Do Good

3.  Learn Something

4.  Remember

5. Reflect

Do these things today as grateful response
to the Source of life’s fullness.

I am thankful for many things in my blessed life,
but perched high on the gratitude list is a special
place for birds.  They come in several categories:
Singers, Acrobats, Comedians, Daredevils,
big and small, and decorated on a scale
from drab to dramatic.

My friend pictured above is a resident of Northern
Arizona, where my wife and I happen to be vacationing at
the moment.  He was among a welcoming committee that sang to
us as we unpacked the car, then did grass-top flight
tricks for our amusement.  Everyday he has stopped by
to check on us and to add another verse to his lovely song.

I am grateful, Present Spirit, for many things.  I am blessed
each day as I walk through this life.  But I wanted to write this
note to you to emphasize my appreciation for my sisters and
brothers whose songs overcome the ordinariness of life,
carriers of carefree joy, delicate creatures who
delight my spirit.
I join them in their songs of praise.
If only I could sing like one of them.
Thanks be to God.

I arrived on the hilltop with time to spare.  Sunset was still
half an hour away.  Plenty of time to set the camera
properly for what I knew was to be a glorious
desert  sunset.  Brilliant oranges, dancing shades of
yellow, glowing shafts of sunlight through dark,
angry storm clouds.  The perfect setting for a
memorable drama in the sky, the sun’s grand exit
with pageantry and pomp.

But I made the mistake of turning around and
looking, just for a moment, in the opposite direction
toward the mountain.  Behold, not a contest of
staggering colors, but a gracious gentleness,
a softness played out across the desert
floor and up the side of the mountain’s slopes
and undulations.  To the West was the stark
confrontation of color against color.  To the East,
a sacred simplicity of blending, a joining of
colors that produced not clash, but
concerted calm.  Respite.
An invitation to sit on a green bench,
watch the unfolding of a never again moment
and breathe in the fragrance of peace.

I did.
It was the better choice.

All things.  All.
Atoms to advanced algebra,
bits of this and bundles of that,
creatures to creation,
day to destiny.

Held together by
a mysterious consciousness,
an energy too small to be seen,
too cosmic to comprehend.

Today is a laboratory of
conscious connectedness
from which life will emerge,
the intentional dream of
an indescribable force.

So it was yesterday.
So it will be tomorrow.
So it is
in this moment as a word becomes wonder.

“In him all things hold together”
Colossians 1:17

I present a wonderful mystery.
How can that become this?
The perfect metaphor for spiritual transformation,
“new life.”

“So if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation;
everything old has passed away; see, everything
has become new.”

In Christ, not a fan of Christ.
In Christ, not an admirer of Christ

I was presented a mystery in my own backyard.
That became this.
And with beautiful wings, she flew.
The Psalmist prayed:  “O, that I had wings like
a dove…”  I’d settle for a butterfly.
The beautiful mystery.

Roger and Sue Pierce are happy parents again!
Surprise!

Their child, pictured above, escapped from the chrysalis
this morning at approximately 7:30 a.m.
Mom and child are doing fine.
Dad is busy taking pictures.
Wonderful Day!

Maybe one of these fits you today.
Today IS a good day for a good day, so let’s live today with
conscious gratitude.  I didn’t make it, nor you.  It is one
more opportunity  to bless and be blessed,
to broaden your mind, widen your awareness
of grace, deepen the roots of courage
and patience, grow your faith
in a consciousness of
Presence.

Inhale the gift.
This is a day made just for you.

I never pictured myself as a bird watcher.  At least not a binocular carrying member of the Audubon Society.  But there is something magnetic about these little creatures.  Eagles are majestic and Mockingbirds are wonderful singers, but this little clump of feathers is a showman extraordinaire.

He is an aerial acrobat, a fierce defender of his territory, and faster than a speeding bullet.  I’ve held more than one in my hand after he had mistaken a glass door for open flying space.  His needle-like beak was partly open and his tongue, no bigger than a piece of thread, dangled in the air as I held him in my palm.  He looked like he had just gotten in from a rough Saturday night, but a little drop of sugar water, a minute or two to catch his breath, and he was cleared for flight status again.  He fluffed his gray feathers, gave me a wink, and took off like a miniature Atlas rocket.

I know he appreciated the medical attention because often when I was puttering in the backyard, I would hear that familiar buzzing just over my right shoulder, and there he was, stopping by for a visit.

It’s really nice to have friends, isn’t it.  I’m thankful for mine.  I hope you are for yours.

About a week ago, during a particularly heavy time…masks and mean spirits and
pandemic death counts, etc…I wondered to myself: Is God really in the
mix of all this as a presence?  From then until now, I received the
answers depicted in the collage above.  I just opened the coffee
bag this morning, by the way.  The three words in the little
blue line are:  Brighter Days Ahead.  I am grateful for
signs of Presence in the midst of my
faltering faith.