Morning coffee & some prayerful paying attention as the week begins.
Listening in vibrant stillness to the bursting energy of morning.
All the possibilities of a new week yet ahead.
It is good to pause and be thankful for the moment that is.
Birds sing their morning songs.
Squirrels scamper along their known ways.
A pair of squirrels chase each other; another forages among the grass – scrounging, finding, sitting up to eat, chewing at its frenetic pace, sitting up even higher on its haunches to survey its surroundings. Yet another sits very closely nearby just above in magnolia branches chattering the morning news to me or perhaps chattering to me that my presence is the morning news.
A quintet of blackbirds searches for their morning repast among springtime verdant green grasses. One of the five consistently flies back and forth to a nearby maple where I have seen in previous weeks that it has found a hollow for a home. These days it is in active process of parenting; of course, the children must be fed.
The trees have blossomed, bloomed, and are now in full sun-soaking, rain-welcoming growth mode. It is as if they are exuberantly stretching, extending their limbs to welcome all that surrounds them; greeting the world with the dignity of their being alive. This morning, leaves wriggle in soft breeze that portends a day where nature’s thirst will be sated.
As a week begins, may we have grace to remember and take encouragement from “The Message” translation of Mat. 6:34, “Give your entire attention to what God is doing right now, and don’t get worked up about what may or may not happen tomorrow. God will help you deal with whatever hard things come up when the time comes.”
(The wonderful mug is handmade by @jenniferjoystudio [you should totally support her amazing craftwork…purchase something for yourself or as a gift!] & the beautiful spoon is handmade by a Rwandan craftsperson of unknown origin. Found years ago in Rwanda, as you can see, the spoon is well-loved. I offer my constant apologies to the poor zebra who has been navigating the unfortunate situation of being headless for quite a long time.)