PANDEMIC PONDERING - Excerpts from the 2020 Journal
(Continued from page 3)
I wake daily at 4 am. There is no alarm clock, but in the spring I am able to hear the work of the birds in darkness. Yes, they seem to do their work in pre-dawn hours. Pantheism, I believe, identifies God with nature. My church has long been the wood so perhaps I fit this label. That is why I have gone almost daily these past weeks to walk and sit in prayer and meditation. The forest is freedom's greatest symbol. Working at my impromptu desk this morning found me engulfed in bright light. There was a halo around the bird feeder as I wrote. Drifting in an out of work then into memory, I recalled a treasured little book: "Life in a Day." When I glance up a quartet of cardinals descend - paired off male and female. A burst of tan, bright oranges and reds glowed, all behind their black masks. I was unarmed, without my camera. My instructions are clear: observe.
I had heard their courtship mating songs, but now I was seeing mate feeding; one seed passed from male to female beak. Apparently the male is picked for color and the female for her mouth as it is a sign of how well she builds a nest. Care... they take great care choosing each other, because it is said they are together for the long haul. Not moving, running around on deadline, I was able to witness the glorious ritual; the everyday ordinary, yet absolutely extraordinary privilege we are all given when asked to care for each other. Yes, I was experiencing my own life in a day with a magnified sense of gratitude.
Years of reflection have taught me that nature is the muse for spiritual discoveries... she presents when I am present. We poets, would be writers of the world, then look for the patterns and connections that reveal our underlying similarities.