"First you need only look:
Notice and honor the radiance of
Everything about you…..
Play in this universe. Tend
All these shining things around you:
The smallest plant, the creatures and
objects in your care.
Be gentle and nurture. Listen……
As we experience and accept
All that we really are………
We grow in care."      
        Anne Hillman

I write this from a favorite coffee shop that overlooks the backwaters of the Mississippi River. I come here when I need to sit on "my perch" as I refer to it….a tall chair at the back window which houses several bird feeders. If I sit still enough, and am not dressed in clothing that is too bright, I can remain observant less than a foot away from the birds as they feed their tiny bodies. Already this morning the chickadees and gold finches have been busily eating. Over the time I have come to this chair I have seen countless birds, observed them in the trees below and at very close proximity. It is a form of meditation for me, hugging a warm cup of coffee with my hands, sitting as still as I possibly can, and looking eye to eye(that’s how it seems) with these beautiful,fragile, vulnerable, creatures.

Sitting this close, I can observe the ones who’ve ‘done battle‘ in some way…their feathers are missing in places. I think of those people I know who have a similar look. Life has not treated them kindly. (A nut hatch has just arrived.) I can also see closely those who are the ‘thrivers‘….those who manage to escape any of life’s hard knocks with the fullness of their feathers intact. I think also of those humans I know who seem to live a charmed life, no ruffled feathers for them. This morning I send my blessing to all of these.

Yesterday I sat with a group of friends viewing a DVD by the cosmologist Brian Swimme. Its title was
The Power of the Universe. It was a fascinating lecture about the interconnectedness of the Universe, our place as humans in it, and the message of what it means to live at this time in the history of our planet. It was dense material but I walked away from it all with a sense of hope, a sense of potential, a sense that, indeed, we are living at a unique and important time.(Crows keep watch from the tree tops.) We are being called to be caregivers of this amazing home in very significant ways that will have an impact on the future for not only our children and grandchildren but for all the species,both plant and animal, that share in our living.

Somehow watching these tiny winged ones confirms this….. we are inextricably connected with one another in this Sacred Web. (A flock of geese just made their way down river.) So today I will take a step in what I hope is the right direction. I take this moment to honor the radiance out this window….the birds, the river, the tree, the humans who share this comfy, coffee house.And so first, may my steps…may yours…be gentle and nurturing and may we grow in care, honoring the creation and the Creator by our living.

So much, so very much, depends on it.