We've had a mild winter--dry (for Oregon), and comfortable enough to do farm chores and to take afternoon walks up the hill in a jacket and hat. The snow is falling off and on today, our first of the winter. It probably will not accumulate more than an inch, but will be enough to delight Oregonians--at least those inclined to be delighted. This is the first snow for the year-old hens in the upper garden, and when I opened their door this morning a few ventured their heads out, but ducked back inside quickly. Eventually, by the time I'd come back with their freshly cleaned watering can, brave Coila had engaged the winter snow, and a few others were sliding down the ramp after her.
Most everyday I wake up with a deep sense of gratitude for life, a thankful heart that turns toward God. Sometimes I wake up with a sense that I am spending too much time trying to accomplish things that don't much matter, and I want more time to pursue relationships with my mothers, daughers, granddaughters and friends. I want more time to walk and sit in the woods, more time to grow and prepare food for my family and friends.
I think my most significant moments occur when I simply witness the presence of God in the ordinariness of life. I feel God's presence throughout time when I Hear the rooster down the road welcome the day (it often takes him a good chunk of the morning), or the owl in the woods that speaks into the night. I am part of all of God's creation--life upon life reproducing the next generation that eats, sleeps, engages God, others, and creation in various ways--including finding some sort of work to do. I want to be careful that the work I find to do doesn't overshadow paying attention to life itself. The older I grow the more simple the meaning of life becomes--certainly not about professional accomplishment. A good life, I'm concluding, is one lived that embraces, rather than separates from, all the earthiness that makes us human.
I fear I am not expressing this well. Words are inadequate. Perhaps this concludes well enough: my most important work is threefold: to live with gratitude, bearing witness to the sustaining presence of God throughout creation; to live a life faithful to those in my past who ushered me into the possibilities I have today; and to live in ways that allow people (and animals) present and future to flourish on God's good earth.