Encounters

Once-upon-a-time, many decades ago, I was a barefooted, sun-stroked urchin soaking up endless lakeside hours. My life was solitary at our summer lake cottage, without other children nearby, so I relished special relationships with turtles - wild creatures I could catch and hold (unlike squirrels, birds, or fish).  They became my companions, playmates, and ever-so-safe confidants.

Recently I've enjoyed two endearing turtle encounters that took me back to that sweet time of my life.

Several days ago when looking out over our lake from the house, I noticed a round shape lodged on the tire hanging from a post on the pier.  I thought perhaps waves had washed up something that had gotten stuck there.

However, upon advancing to investigate, I discovered a large map turtle had chosen the spot for September sunbathing!  Approaching cautiously, I was sure my footsteps on the pier would frighten him - but he didn't move. Instead, he waited for me to stand directly over him, and then eyed me with a welcoming look that suggested I belonged there as much as he did. I verbally conversed with him as I would have done with an old friend, and he still didn't budge.  We connected that way, the wild, undomesticated reptile and the conversational human, for almost a minute.  Then he slipped into the water and was gone.

The following evening another smaller turtle scuttled into the middle of the road on the other side of our house.  He was about ten yards ahead of me, and in a hurry.  Upon my approach, he withdrew into his shell in typical self-protection, but I reached down and lifted him to eye level - a beautiful painted turtle.  When I offered an audible greeting, he stuck his head out slightly and turned it to look me in the eye, as if unafraid and trusting my intentions.  We stood together in the evening sunlight, assessing each other and conversing (well, he only listened, but that's still an important part of communication).  Then I released him in the grass on the other side of the road, where he was safe to continue on his way.

I'm not sure if these encounters are meaningful to anyone but me, and yet I want to say this: they take me back to an important time when I expected ordinary things to be special, and maybe even spectacular.  This was when innocence and trust linked me with even the most modest of creatures and experiences to mysteriously support my own immature growth. In some undeveloped way, I realized I existed as part of a larger, integrated whole - and thanks to always-available turtles, life was good in the midst of hurts and disappointments as well as the best of times, simply because they listened well to whatever mattered to me.

Everywhere

Small things can be profoundly meaningful.  A silly-but-soft grin on the face of a loved one.  The playful glee of a pair of squirrels circling the oak tree.  Soft stillness amidst nature's simple, pristine beauty.

It is critical to pay attention, to vigilantly train the mind to know this: the promised land is everywhere!

And it is now.

To Life!

This seems a good time to share an update on my buddy Nathaniel, our pastor's youngest son.

In March of 2015, physicians performed surgery on Nathaniel's skull to remove as much of a aggressive brain tumor as possible.  He was barely nineteen years old. We were told the average life expectancy for patients with this type of tumor was fourteen months, which would have been last May.  This was hard news, especially for one so young. The longest possible statistical prognosis was cited as September 17, 2016.

That is tomorrow.

But Nathaniel is doing much better than anyone expected!  He is an energetic, proficient golfer and ping-pong enthusiast enrolled at a local community college, living a lifestyle similar to any American 20-year-old. He continues to be carefully monitored with frequent MRI's, and yet at the moment, the remaining tumor is not growing - a miraculous fact that astounds his doctors!

This evening our church threw a party to celebrate Nathaniel's precious life.  His "expiration date" of 9-17-16 will soon have passed!  We are awed and grateful to God, and thankful for his example of tenacity and faithfulness, especially during the grueling months of radiation and chemo.

Nathaniel inspires me in many ways; I even consider him a sort of mentor figure despite the fact that he is forty-seven years my junior.  Why? Because he has matured quickly in the last eighteen months, and become wise for his age.  Divinely inspired virtues like acceptance, optimism, diligence, gratitude, discipline, sensitivity, and compassion define him. He is living well, with integrity, dignity, and goodness leading the way.  I am so glad to be walking by his side.

A Birthday to Remember

On a warm September day many years ago, I gave birth to a baby girl with curly dark hair.  We named her Emily, after her maternal grandmother and her paternal great-grandmother.  Last Saturday Emily celebrated her 40th birthday.

It was no ordinary party.  Emily orchestrated it herself, inviting individuals who represented a wide variety of activities and focuses in her life during the last ten years. She referred to them collectively with a sort of childlike glee, as "my people!"  A friend offered to host the event in her exquisite Victorian home, a treasure of elegance and charm almost lost in today's culture.

Before lunch, Emily treated her guests to a tour of the historic Benjamin Harrison mansion (23rd president of the United States from 1889-1893, and personal friend of my great-grandfather) just a short walking distance away.  Our knowledgeable guide brought each of its fascinating rooms to life before our eyes.  Surely life had been hard in many ways back then, but also fine and grand.

Following the tour, we returned to sample Emily's unique, delicious homemade soups and raw vegetable dainties, and panna cotta and birthday cake provided by the hostess.

As we finished eating at linen-covered tables on the spacious porch, Emily introduced each of "my people," weaving them through the story of her last decade of life.  Her animated spirit prevailed throughout. 

I will treasure the memory of this classy celebration.  It was a reminder to live fully and gratefully, knowing each day is another chapter of an emerging, much larger, story we cannot know except by looking back.

What Peace Means

Life is about activity.  However, when we shove aside away all the screens and props, the expectations and scripts, it ends up being primarily about the condition of the heart. Ultimately, we are at peace or not.  The early church father, St. Ignatius of Antioch (35-108 AD) had it right: "He who carries God in his heart, bears heaven with him wherever he goes."

I've heard this story before, but ran across it again online today and thought it worth repeating...

There was once a King who offered a prize to the artist who would paint the best picture of peace.  Many artists tried.  The King looked at all the pictures, but there were only two he really liked. And so he had to choose between them.

One picture was of a calm lake.  The lake was a perfect mirror for the peaceful, towering mountains all around it.  Overhead was a blue sky with fluffy white clouds.  All who saw this picture that it was a perfect picture of peace.

The other picture had mountains too, but these were rugged and bare.  Above was an angry sky from which rain fell, in which lightning played.  Down the side of the mountain tumbled a foaming waterfall.  This did not look peaceful at all.

But when the King looked closely, he saw behind the waterfall a tiny bush growing in a crack in the rock. In the bush a mother bird had built her nest.  There, in the midst of the rush of angry water, sat the mother bird on her nest...in perfect peace.

Which picture do you think won the prize?  The King chose the second picture.  Do you know why?

"Because," explained the King, "peace does not mean to be in a place where there is no noise, trouble, or hard work.  Peace means to be in the midst of all those things and still be calm in your heart.  That is the real meaning of peace."

(Photo credits to wildlifewalking.wordpress.com)