Friday, March 23, 2012

wishing stars.



"Ashley?" Her voice fell softly on the mysteriously breath-taking black glass, rising just above the melodies of the spring peepers and nameless frogs. .."Do you think that world is becoming a more beautiful place?"

Her question landed on my ears with a thud, uneasy and yet equally firm - much like the canoe paddle seated precariously on my bare knees. From the middle of the pond, my mind reeled. The air smelled like summer; the canoe ride proved to be spontaneous. Eating lukewarm chili (because I was too lazy to heat it again) after a long day, she asked if I would be up for a canoeing study break. The question she barely spoke, knowing I might be too tired, but her eyes sparkled with anticipation in a way that I could not ignore. At first I hesitated - and then made the best decision all day...YES.

As we pushed the canoe into the water an eery yet equally enchanting sound danced across the water: a flute! Fully enamored by the scene: a flautist accompanying our night time canoe ride...with our tender winter toes dipped carefully in the cool water, we pushed off into the smooth black glass pond. A little out of practice, my first few strokes sent water droplets onto my shorts. We paddled first towards the wandering flautist, then on towards the geese. (Unfortunately our attempt to say hello just startled them away.) From the center of the pond I wondered what the animals must think of our shimmering buildings on the hill...A symphony of night time creatures filled the air and one by one the stars came out to listen.

Overwhelmed by the weather pretending to be summer, the creatures performing their night-time symphony, my mind's ability to think, the stillness of the water - the vastness of the sky, the beauty of friendship and this world teeming with life ...

"I hope so." 
I replied.



Or conclusively, peel an orange. Do it lovingly - in perfect quarters like little boats, or in staggered exfoliations like a flat map of the round world, or in one long spiral as my grandfather used to do.

Nothing is more likely to become garbage than orange rinds, but as long as anyone looks at it in delight, it stands a million triumphant miles from the trash heap. 

That, you know, is why the world exists at all. It remains outside the cosmic garbage of nothingness, not because it is such a solemn necessity that nobody can get rid of it, but because it is the orange peel hung on God's chandelier. 

Robert Capon 
in
The Supper of the Lamb

1 comment:

  1. Your Robert Capon quote reminded me of trips as a college student to the upstate Jersey home of my best friend Gwennie. Her family was wealthy and the house was one that appeared to a city girl from Lancaster, PA to be a mansion. I remember sitting in their gorgeous dining room and looking up at the chandelier hanging over my head. I was horrified to see what appeared to be ugly, dirty, and absolutely disgusting looking wishbones from turkeys. They were balanced precariously on the ornate brass fixtures of the light. Why in the world would anyone display something so ugly from something so beautiful? Today, an older and wiser me realizes that what appeared ugly to me, represented perhaps some of the most memorable moments that Gwen's parents had spent beneath that light, enjoying holiday meals with their seven children. Ashley, they say that beauty is in the eye of the beholder. So my response to the question, "Is the world becoming a more beautiful place?" is a resounding YES! I just picked two huge bouquets of daffodils and placed them in the house. I look around at so much that reminds me of just how beautiful my life is and I thank God for his goodness! At 21, I had absolutely no idea anything like this was possible. Trust me Ash, despite all the ugliness that we sometimes see all around us, our God is able to fill our lives with people, events and special places that are so absolutely beautiful that it will take your breath away! Thank you Ash for being part of the beautiful picture that is my life! I love you!

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