I am sorting through too many thoughts as I see him standing in the distance with a watering hose connected to a flower sprinkler head, encouraging beauty with misty veils of spray.
T and I are nearing the end of our walk on an unexpectedly hot Saturday, the second day of May. Smiles are exchanged from a distance. I wave, am drawn out of myself, and realize how simply thoughts can change from self to another.
We stop and hear about our friend’s four Bonsai bushes that have died. They were expensive, he says. His brother told him not to buy them.
But the little bush at his feet is doing well. It will grow very slowly, he says. Some may wonder why he would buy such a small bush that grows so slowly. It’s hearty.
An owl woke him in the night, he says, perched on the neighbor’s roof outside his bedroom window. He knows its call and He knows the owl by name. To me, it’s just an owl. To him it’s a Great Horn.
He will be out the door at 6:00 in the morning to find the rare birds in the park that have recently migrated to our area—blue-winged warblers, indigo bunting finches…
He notices these things in these small moments, calls them by name, knows what’s needed or not, values each creature for the uniqueness it brings to nature, to life, and he reminds me to pay attention to…
How gently the Spirit waters our souls, how He waits, watching, and calls us by name…
Photo credit: Pete Nuji