May this new week be kind to hungry hearts like yours and may moments of wonder and awe whisper just loud enough in your ear to remind you that they are still yours whenever you need them, if only you’ll pause, take a deep breath
…and on the out breath, ask. “Show me something beautiful.”
A prayer?
Perhaps.
But not a supplication asking for some grand act on your behalf,
or something new.
Instead, “Help me to see, to remember,
to hear, to smell, to feel some small, hopeful bit of what is,
and what remains,
beautiful,
all around me.”
May it be so.
With all the ugliness prancing about on stage these days, offering up a half-dozen pretty pictures of ducks taken on a rainy afternoon in early December seems kinda lame. But then, that’s kinda the crux of our current battleground, isn’t it? Wanting desperately to notice the butterflies and fluffy clouds in the face of so much cruelty and revenge seeking.
“Are ya freakin’ daft, Davey?” I ask myself as I consider posting this up, “or are ya just tone deaf?
Some are doing their damnedest to impose their warped sense of entitlement and religiosity on everyone around them, claiming to be awakened in the night by God, claiming to speak with and for God, to be, uhhhh …ohh, good grief, some smirking, babyface wannabe Moses, willfully committing all manner of indignities to force their will and punish any who do not bend the knee or obey. Gerrymandering, fake electors, criminalizing medical care, placating tyrants and purging voters under false pretenses. Anger. Retribution. Punishment.
So Old Testament.
Used to be the God of, oh, you know, the more commonly encountered religions demanded at the very least, honesty and fair dealings from his followers. How very quaint. Nowadays, these new iterations of God’s chosen have Him demanding, first and foremost, results. “Prosperity Gospel for us, tough luck for you, ya heathens!” “We deserve a homeland, but you certainly don’t.”
According to these gentle souls God has always hated queers, hated the mixing of races, still hates democrats, muslims, jews and books, and even hates, presumably, paying taxes. Seems pretty clear if you ask me, God hates whatever they hate, or fear, and god knows …those folks hate and fear an absolute shit-ton of stuff. Just ask them. Or don’t. They’re gonna tell you all about it anyway.
Things have gotten bad enough, lately that simply ignoring them and focusing on the good no longer seems even a mildly sane decision. Unicorn farts and candy sprinkles, Mary Oliver poems and moonrises, …and pretty ducks, these may be a few of my favorite things but remembering my favorite things is not going to cut it in the face of the Speaker of the freaking House of Representatives blurring out the faces of the insurrectionists who would be put at risk of being identified and arraigned for their crimes should the citizenry of this great nation recognize and turn them in.
They don’t even try to hide their villainy any more.
Many of us human types love distractions for the ways they help us avoid the weighty and fretful considerations or action. So if it really is an all hands on deck moment, I don’t want to be the fool providing a bunch of comforting, ‘Oooh, pretty,’ distractions that keep folks from calling out the world’s ills or preparing for must-win storms but neither do I want to live on a steady diet of ‘The sky is falling!’ adrenaline rage, either.
So, for whatever minuscule comfort they may provide, I submit for your viewing pleasure, eight ducks as captured a bit more than a week ago in six photographs.
They won’t solve any of your problems, I know…
But neither, surely, will withholding them.
That’s it , spew it out for all of us. It’s hard enough just to think on it, let alone form the painful thoughts into words and write it down.
Now go relax and be kind to yourself . Watch A River Runs Through It for the umteenth time.
I think I will too .
The male Hooded. Stunning. I was recently reminded that it's OK to be happy, even at the worst of times, because happy people are more resourced and resilient than the unhappy and so can contribute more to the fight.