Still Alive...

When the miracle of the day is your feet meeting the floor, you take no small thing for granted...when life is finite and filled with fear, beauty becomes palpable, tangible, brighter, more...when God grants you peace amidst turmoil and chaos, torment and dastardly hijinks you view this world through eyes awoke to goodness in tiny ways...

The crawling, busy work of the giant carpenter ants dismantling old rotten tables...each with a purpose, a beauty all their own...

The tiny duckling mama leading the way for her 6 infinitely miniature babies across the road...each one with six white symmetrical dots across their teeny backs...

The massive fir trees dotting the waterfront site you stand on...listening to the quiet, occasionally broken by creaking, swaying monoliths...broken by the winging hawk breaking the air with strokes of his mighty wings...

That song that comes on as you drive, reminding you of your worth, your place on this earth...

The moose of a pup who loves with everything he has, every moment of the day and takes your protection oh so seriously, with his puppy breath and hair storm akin to pigpen as he walks through the home...

The words uttered by one of your babies that place you in the here and now...needed...

The friend who calls to check in...who listens without judgement, without mockery or slight... ridiculously loved...

Still alive...still breathing...

Still seeking, learning, healing, growing, self-reflecting....

My friends...exhaustion comes as we fight each day to remain, to stand, to speak truth...

As I took time to rest yesterday, to listen to my body, mind, heart, spirit, I recongnized how hard it truly is to sit with it...to quiet the voices screaming for justice, for understanding, for growth...to quiet those voices and enter into calm waters...no wind to fill the sails, just you and the horizon as far as the eye can see...to rest, to regroup, to rejuvenate the weary soul.

"This is what the Lord says --

He who made you, who formed you in

the womb,

and who will help you:

Do not be afraid, O Jacob, my servant,

Jeshurun, whom I have chosen.

For I will pour water on the thirsty land,

and streams on the dry ground;

I will pour out my Spirit on your offspring,

and my blessing on your descendants.

They will spring up like grass in a meadow,

like poplar trees by flowing streams.

One will say, 'I belong to the Lord';

another will call himself by the name of Jacob;

still another will write on his hand, 'The Lords,'

and will take the name Israel." Isaiah 44:2-5

We have been formed, fashioned, forged with wonder, with love for a time just such as this.

Loved without borders, with no reservation or hesitation...loved.

I think on these things as the world swirls round about my steps...

I think on these things as I spend time with crew, with fallers and outdoors men with nerves of steel...I think on courage, I think on strength of purpose and intent....

'There is no stopping a man/woman who knows he/she is in the right and keeps a'coming.'

Louis L'Amour.

I will take time for important moments, for imparting knowledge and understanding when faced with judgement, when faced with uninformed speech, when faced with mighty mountains...

"Have faith in God,” Jesus said to them. “Truly I tell you that if anyone says to this mountain, ‘Be lifted up and thrown into the sea,’ and has no doubt in his heart but believes that it will happen, it will be done for him.' Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.…" Mark 11:23

With faith I will move and have my being....

Let us stand together dear treasures...lost ones...survivors....let us stand together and effect change within a broken down system...let us stand for women and children, against raging abusers who lift words and fists against loved ones...who sell, traffic, harm, torture the innocent. Is it not time we all stood for something? Is it not time we take down the puppet masters directing such horrific crimes against humanity?

With faith I will speak to that mountain, and that one, and that one....until the day I see them topple, or draw my last breath with a smile, with unspeakable joy, with faith that moves mighty mountains.