Now in Early December

All that is usual and expectable seems to be sliding sideways to unanticipated, more difficult to recognize, perhaps even a puzzle with a piece missing, unsolvable. When I began this post, 4 days ago the day had begun at 8 degrees farenheit. We had 20+ inches of snow lying over the ground. Today it reached 60 degrees farenheit. It is raining the snow away for now (3:00 PM, December 10, 2019). Tonight with sundown, rain will shift to its heavier identities and I have been promised by the weather forecasters that when I wake up in the morning our outdoors will again be white with snow and 30 or 40 degrees colder than it was at 1:00 PM. What was predictable is not. In every element of our planet’s life in this solar system in this galaxy in this universe it is entering, more, has entered and is wandering down a tunnel of no known dimensions, unknown obstacles, constantly unfamiliar shifts in norms.

The earth is within a solar system within a galaxy within a universe, which may be within or beside other universes. On one side I cannot imagine that anything we less-than-pinprick sized humans do impacts the position and condition of our tiny slightly larger pinprick size planet in this galaxy, nor, even, perhaps in our much smaller solar system. But I can imagine that anything we do impacts the elements of earth’s atmosphere, i.e. our house within which we expect to be safe and our basic needs and their provision predictable. Because while relative to all creation we are a breath, relative to our dot-earth, we are part of the apparatus that enables or disables our breath.

How can we influence this for good? What gift can we, this season when all thoughts trend toward gifts — what we want, what we want to give, where and how we acquire them to give, how we deliver them, to whom we will need to to whom we will want to, to whom we can give them; what we hope to get, from who, by what means–what gift makes good, is good, comes from good, will be good hereon out. How about the gift of giving a gift — be that gift tangible or just audible; tangible or of self-time, love, care, hope, promise kept, attention; tangible or just visual; tangible–a present, or intangible–a memory that pleases, gives peace, delights, with each recall? How can we receive a gift fully–understanding its value and valuing it–air, breath, water, rich dirt, a smile, a laugh, a trusting teary face–and savoring its value, not spoiling it, not forgetting it, not discarding it.

Of what was, can we receive it, learn it, carry its good forward? Aware of what was, can we propel what is to a good, kind, generous, careful, caring, what will be? May it be so.

Thank you for reading this. Thank you for your presence.