“It is a serious thing just to be alive on this fresh morning in this broken world.”
– Mary Oliver
All too often, it seems, we take the world and our role in it all too casually. We wake with a yawn and stumble through our mornings, gulping coffee and rushing to work or elsewhere and paying little to no attention to what’s happening around us. But in fact, there is serious work afoot, always. And the world indeed is broken and in need of mending. There’s work for us to do and there’s a space in our very midst where God is already at work, if we will only sit still long enough to notice.
So I’m giving my notice today.
I’m noticing that once again that serious and elegant hawk is back sitting on my neighbor’s fence, sparrow-diving into the red-flowered bush along the fence line and once again coming up empty. Why does he keep at it? A serious question.
I’m noticing the hummingbird at my blood-red feeder, peering in at me through the porch screen and defying me to not pay attention to her beauty and grace and speed. A serious consideration.
I’m thinking about 90-year-old Joseph, an artist who was baptized just this morning at an early Saturday morning mass, the small group of us the unexpected witnesses to his miracle of faith, to his late-life journey into community. And I am startled by the beauty of it, surprised by the tears that well up in my eyes and in the eyes of those sitting around me, and I am reminded that it’s never too late to turn to God, to meet the cleansing and cooling waters of faith. It just takes some of us longer and the journey is what matters in any case. For God doesn’t count years, God just loves and waits. A serious moment.
I’m recalling a conversation over coffee with a good friend this morning, a sharing of life and faith, a mutual noticing that God is living and moving among us, that God is nudging us toward one another and, perhaps especially, toward the poor, the disillusioned, the forgotten, the ones who have never been told they are valued and loved. A serious responsibility.
All this before noon. All this life in the midst of brokenness. All this because I paid attention.
I see that the hawk finally captured its prey. I could be sad for the sparrow but I am not. I choose to be glad for the hawk instead. He is my reminder to keep diving deep into the bushes, to keep searching only for that which nourishes, knowing that once in a while I will strike it rich and what I receive in that moment, perched as I am on my own fence line, is worth the wait.
Beautiful, as usual, and thanks for the reminder!
Judy
Surprisingly, we are often what the birds are waiting for so they can eat from my feeders. They recognize me and call to one other, she’s back, come eat. May I be that same person to help people to eat, to find God; she’s back come eat at her table.
Thank you Steve. I just helped to give a Christ Renews His Parish retreat for women at our parish. Our theme was, be still and know that I am God. Your reflection today ties so nicely into that passage of scripture. We all need to be reminded to quiet ourselves, take note of the world around us, both the beauty and the not so beautiful and listen to hear God speaking to us. Have a blessed Labor day weekend. Thank you for nourishing our minds and hearts today. 🙂
Ah, yes! He waits for us to notice all the beauty and joy that surrounds us amidst the challenges that vie for our energy. Like the sparrow, sometimes the sacrifice made bring that beauty to another. Thought provoking as always, Steve. So good to hear from you! God bless! Kathleen
Seek and ye shall find! Yes we all need to open our eye, not just to look but to actually see what God has to show us. Remember though it is not the gift we are seeking but the giver – God the giver of all good things.
How very appropriate, as usual. AWARENESS—a wonderful choice for LIFE !!
We live on the edge of the desert and can enjoy the sunrise and sunset against our beloved Bookcliffs. We feed the birds and they, too, watch for us. Sometimes we cheer for the hawks, sometimes for the other birds, but always for the many quail who make our yard their home. It is a Cathedral of God in our own back yard. We are blessed and we try to keep that in mind every day!
We live on the edge of the desert where we can watch the sunrise and sunset against our beloved Bookcliffs. We, too, feed the birds and they watch for us, calling to each other when the feeder is full. Sometimes we cheer for the hawks, sometimes the little birds, and always for the quail families who make their home in our yard. It is truly God’s Cathedral in which we live…and we try not to forget Who gave us these treasures!
Thanks, Linda, for your beautiful response. We learn so much for all around us…pointing us to God.