Tuesday, July 10, 2018

Look to the Sky


Listen to the Spirit

Pursue some path, however narrow and crooked, in which you can walk with love and reverence.”
Henry David Thoreau

I'm going off the grid for the rest of this week. I'll be at the Wild Goose Festival in Hot Springs, NC recharging my batteries. Hopefully, when I return, you will be the beneficiaries of whatever I soak up from the host of spiritual teachers there.

For now, however, I am greatly distracted by the pair of smallish hawks, perhaps newly fledged nestlings, who are working the oaks around me. I love the way the whole ecosystem wakes up when their shrill whistle screes through the air. All the small birds begin the chorus of alarm; the crows squawk and yell, squirrels run for cover, and mockingbirds dive-bomb and peck them. The hawks duck and dodge, but they do not attack back, which I find interesting. The hawks seem too focused on their goal of finding easy breakfast amid the bird and squirrel nests in these trees to bother with pesky mockingbirds. Even Liza becomes alert when she hears the ruckus. She looks at me with a question in her eyes that asks, “What's going on?” Of course, I explain.

I realize that being able to observe the lifestyle of hawks is a luxury. I'm not a scientist; hawk research is not my job. It is simply my passion. Don't ask me why. Most people resent their presence in the same way they resent the presence of coyotes in this urban neighborhood. I am heartened by the idea that wild things live here, and have adapted to life in the city. What choice do they have? Humans have encroached on every square inch of their habitat—so now they're encroaching our ours. Fair enough.

I know you're busy, but I hope you have the time to listen to the birds. Thoreau wrote in Walden, “It is not enough to be busy; so are the ants. The question is: What are we busy about?” It's a good question. The greatest assets of life are not kept in banks, but in the human spirit. And that spirit is shared by all God's creatures. Listen in and be blessed. See you in a few days.

                                                                In the Spirit,
                                                                   Jane


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