A father and a son were driving down a deserted road when a flat tire put them in a funk.
There was a spare tire…but no lug nut wrench or jack inside their trunk.
This was long before cell phones and since they couldn’t call anyone…or drive
they waited there by the side of the road…hoping help would soon arrive.
Which it did in the form of an immigrant family…driving on their way to pick berries (I think)
“Looks like you could use some help.” The father smiled as he gave them both a wink.
After helping them for over an hour…the boy's father offered the other father $20.00
then seemed somewhat confused
when the other father smiled, shook his head, then politely and quietly refused.
The boy’s father tried a few more times…thinking perhaps the family didn’t understand
but somehow that $20.00 kept ending up back in his own hands.
As the family was about to leave the boy’s father ran to the window of their car.
‘They deserve this! his father thought
But the father in the car refused one the last time…
saying words the boy never forget.
He smiled “Today it’s you…but tomorrow it could be me.” He said…
then he waved and drove away.
They never saw that family again…but the father’s words were here to stay.
In a life that’s filled with highs and lows…
he tries to stop and help anyone in need he might see…
And if they offer him anything but thanks he smiles…
repeating the words he first heard years ago…
“Today it’s you…but tomorrow it could be me me.
I believe we’ve all been blessed to be created with an open mind
I imagine with this gift our creators were particularly elated…
as it allows us to be open to the variety of wonders…of all the love and beauty they created.
I imagine it never entered into our creators thinking…
that they never would have supposed….
how the open mind they blessed us with…could so easily be closed.
When our mind is open it can see the beauty of a sunrise paint her colors across the sky…
It can see our children’s smiles…and the love reflected in their eyes.
But when that same mind closes…when it closes from within
hate and prejudice begin to form…based on the colors of our skins.
When our mind is open we can see the vibrant hues of a rainbow…tell a sunflower from a rose
see the changing leaves in Autumn…and blankets of winter snows.
But when that same mind closes to love and acceptance…
when we shut forever our mind’s door
The beauty our creators created becomes clouded by hate…
and devastated by war.
When our mind is open we see the glimmer from the surface of the oceans to the twinkling stars above…
we see how all people, not just friends and family are all created out of love…
But when that same mind closes…when we’ve secured and locked the gate
we see those same people, friends and family so easily destroyed by hate
I’m sure the creators in their heart of hearts never would have proposed it…
If they thought the people who they gave an open mind to
would ever think to close it.
Or perhaps they knew that was a possibility…perhaps they understood it’s scope
and left us with a way to fix this…a least a modicum of hope
For our creators knew any mind that closes..
no matter how or where or when….
also has a chance
of being opened up again.
May we be blessed to see how we’re all equal
no different than the stars up in the sky
and how when everything is said and done
we all shine a little brighter
when we don’t try to outshine each other
but learn to shine as one
We know the exact moment our time began
but, since we don’t know when it will end
may we be blessed to think of time less as an enemy
and accept her as a friend
And in the span that she has given us
before she puts us all to bed
may we treat the world with kindness
and leave no important word unsaid.
I’m not sure what this would look like…
but I imagine we’d all enjoy the view…
If we wished for everyone we meet to have a blessed day…
then did our best to make that wish come true.
When we list our favorite teachers Nature must be number one.
and one lesson she constantly teachers is: never compare ourself with anyone.
In all the years she’s been around this is something Nature knows.
You’ll never see her compare a dragonfly with a bee…or a daisy with a rose.
You’ll never see her compare a maple tree with an oak…or two clouds that paint the sky…
You’ll an ever see her compare an eagle with a mockingbird…or a moth to a butterfly.
She’ll never compare the sun that shines in the day with the moon that shines at night…
for she knows both of them will shine…when their time is right…
Nature wants to make it clear…she wants it to be known
Every thing…every creature in nature…has a beauty all it’s own.
Which is why we needn’t compare ourselves…to anyone to any person…anywhere.
Since we’re all as unique as we are beautiful…
there is no reason to compare.…
May we be blessed every now and then
(I suggest to least one a day)
to find the child inside us
give them a hug…
and let them come out and play
It was a flash mob…somewhere in Italy…a maestro was conducting Ode to Joy
and I found myself fascinated by the conduct of one little girl…and boy.
Moved by the beauty of the music…and how the maestro was instructing….
the little boy started dancing…and the little girl…conducting.
I love how, out of nowhere, this flash of music put these children in a trance
causing one to begin conducting…and the other one to dance.
And I thought I need to bring that childhood innocence into my morning walk
to be more open to the flash mobs around me as I circumvent the block.
Now, my heart controls the rhythm…providing a steady beat
then my brain receives the message and sends that rhythm to my feet.
Rabbits hop their steady beat to make sure I’ve got it right
as the birds, who provide the music, wake from their slumber of the night.
The crickets begin their collective chorus…voices reaching for the skies
until the owls, the mockingbirds, seagulls and squirrels begin to harmonize.
And on those mornings, when I’m lucky, in the trees I hear the wind begin….
and softly into the symphony…enters the violins.
The flash mob always plays the same song…it’s a daily Ode to Joy
and I try hard to listen with the innocence of that little girly and boy.
Which means on any given morning it is purely happenstance….
whether I choose to be the conductor…or if I choose to dance.
As we to enter into any relationship
I wonder how beautiful our world would be
If everyone entered echoing the words of W. H Auden:
‘Let the most loving one…be me’