a bird in the hand…and hope
I had the feeling I was running behind in life…Do you ever? As if life were meant to progress by a schedule – like an efficiently-run German passenger train (which of course, we all know, it is not) and here I was, about to miss it.
Wasn’t it Lewis Carroll who said, “The hurrier I go, the behinder I get?” Was it the rabbit in Alice in Wonderland? Or was it me? Certainly it was me.
The other day I was feeling as though, no matter how long I might live, I could never catch up.
{ O woe is me, my name is Pity! }
hmmm…
It might have made some sense had I asked, “But dear, exactly what is it you’re trying to catch up with or to?” But of course, when you’re in “that mood” (meaning the complete absence of all good sense) you don’t ask such questions.
Sometimes though, in a life of grace (which is the life we all live, whether we know it or not) something happens. Something flies through the window to break the spell – the hex – we’re under, and set us right again.
The other day, I found myself in such a state of mind. And then…
…
Through the open doors of summer, a chartreuse vireo flew into our house. She was fluttering against the windows, seeing beyond them to the sky and trees, and trying desperately to find her way out again. Slowly I took my hand to her. To my surprise, she allowed me to lift her, fully enveloping her trembling tiny body between my two hands. She weighed little more than air. I walked with her back outside, then lifted my top hand. There she was, eyes wide. I expected her to fly. Straight away. But she didn’t. Instead, she stayed.
She stayed and stayed as I walked with her, carrying her from place to place, in search of that spot where she might feel free again to fly. Instead though, her tiny gray feet clutched tight to me as I spoke softly to her that it was safe to leave now. She closed her eyes and took long rests…opened her eyes and looked around…and then closed them again. Here she rested. And rested.
And so did I.
’twas perfect peace to me.
My husband and I watched, relieved as finally she flew, un-hurt.
And in that, All things were made right again.
~ ~ ~
There is a fellow-blogger I’ve grown especially fond of – Shira – her blog In Pursuit of More …Living with {just a little} Less will be so worth your time to check out, if you haven’t yet met her. She has a generous and gracious heart. She puts wonderful, healthful food on the table, and gives us words of wisdom to grow on.
Before leaving for a family trip to France recently, she was asked to say a few things about
H O P E .
cooking-spree 