Reaching out for Life

 Life on a Wing


Nestled in the tree the perfect nest,
eyes of blue  looking back and readied,
for Nature's perfection soon will hatch,
with beaks starving to eat born for
life.  These images play on the screen
of my mind as I behold the broken branch
and eggs smashed on the ground. Life
on the cusp of gentle wings suddenly
broken. A mother bird hovers desperately
seeking what Nature will grant next season. 

That limb came down right where I park my car!  I told myself how lucky I was to miss that random act of Nature.  I found among the branches, a Robin's nest perfectly crafted, and I sighed again at disaster avoided because the nest was empty.  Then on the ground under the limb, the shattered eggs that life had not escaped after all.  Something there is in us that reaches out for life and feels pity when it is lost.  How many Robins are out there---can we even count them?  And what would happen if each nest produced its quantity of offspring?  Then I suppose I'd be praying for the earthworms!  There's just something deep in us that recognizes the true gift of life and mourns at its loss. 

Sacred Hands

Amazing Grace Moments.....

Christina Torre, age 44 and daughter of legendary coach Torre, was eating yogurt, enjoying the peace and calm of a corner shop. Meanwhile, her eyes caught sight of a toddler dangling from the window across the street.  Out the door she ran, opening her arms in time to catch the infant as he plummeted flights up.  Despite yesterday's post about Superman not flying around to save people--Christina Torre was in the right place at the right time to do just that.  Maybe the God's honest truth is that we can be his hands in the world for amazing acts of grace--and make sure you get this point--without having to be his puppets.

Christina Torre: Sacred Hands

Believe it or not, the same thing happened in China the next day. Several deliverymen were making the way through an alley, when looking up, they spied an infant out on a fire escape. They gathered underneath when the child just fell off.  She landed into their hands, but fell through receiving slight bruises.  The child woke up from what appeared to be a sleep!

In both cases, people outstretched hands to receive life--to be there for life's protection.  The obvious truth?  They did not just ignore these children!  An automatic reflex!  They were drawn to them like magnets--a pole star implanted in their souls. 

And in the same way, don't Christians reach out almost instinctively for bread and wine, the Life for all lives? 

Fireworks over Egypt

A Stark Reminder..,..
Why We Celebrate July 4th

Egypt reminds us that to hold elections is not to become a democracy.  US officials were said to be in a bind as to what to say about the Egyptian leader, democratically elected, ousted by military coup--when they and the rest of the world watched a dictator take office in elective process and then elevate himself above the constitution.  How ironic that Morsi left office appealing to the people to restore him because of the constitution and the election that placed him in office as the legitimate leader--the same guy who said he was above the law!  Say the obvious!  Taking part in an election does not a democracy make!

The fireworks over Egypt from large demonstrations is an erie mimicry of our July 4th celebration.  They are celebrating the end of a dictatorship at the hands of the military--such was the tyranny.  Now will the military play referee to get elections restored and new leader elected/?  Strange enforcement of democracy, isn't it?  In the USA, the people enforce democracy and legitimize it either through elections or in the unusual circumstance of the courts.

 When Washington left office, he turned to Thomas Jefferson and remarked that the office was being peacefully transferred--and despite Jefferson's worst fears that Washington would not step aside--he not only did so, but saying to Jefferson--"and not to a king!"  What Washington did was consent to the governance of the people rather than the President telling the people who they should blindly uphold.  No one claims that we are a perfect people.  We do continue, however, to be governed by a remarkable process of a government "of, by and for the people." 

Celebrate Independence Day!

The preservation of the sacred fire of liberty….

are justly considered…deeply, finally….

staked on the experiment entrusted to the hands

of the American people.”

George Washington 

 No place is the experiment of democracy put on trial than between church and state.  I shot this picture from a great distance by using a telephoto lens.  It superimposes the flag in front of the church. Even in this little seacoast town of Damariscotta, Maine--the experiment goes on as citizens live as people of faith. In the best of all worlds, the state upholds the place and practice of religion while people of faith are strengthened to serve in the state.  

Celebrating independence is a verb and not a noun.  It is the active principle of our lives by the way we conduct our lives.  May we show forth our blessings by the way we bless others. 

Happy 4th! 

Stunned & Awe

Stunned & Awe

Where did you come from little Cardinal,

dappled dressed olive in flight?  How 

was it you came by my porch and flew 

into the screen?  I wondered if you chased 

illusions for what you thought was there,

headlong into life's barrier, that tempter 

glass ceiling beset against us all.  I picked

you up and held you  gently to hand you back

to your realm where wings reign and soar

into endless dreams. Once more the miracle,

you took the risk to fly.

  This morning, I went out on the back porch for coffee and calm....when a juvenile female cardinal flew into the porch, but could not find her way out. Indeed, there is a very large opening where the screen is missing and she just could not find it.  Finally, she flew headlong into the screen and careened to the floor.  Stunned...she lay there as I gently picked her up...hoping she had not broken a wing.  As she came to....she perched on my finger, looked around...and launched herself back into the world.  Thought I to myself, the miracle of living is to get up and go on.  Then I thought of the gentle hands which have held me and set me to flight again. 

Chamberlain's Higher Courage

Chamberlain Leads Charge of 20th Maine (Mort Kuntsler)

Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain led the desperate charge down Little Round Top without ammunition to prevent the flanking of the Union troops on the second day of the Battle of Gettysburg, July 2, 1863.  Some scholars claim that this was at least one of the turning points of the entire Civil War--when in fact--we know that it was perhaps one of many.

What can I possibly add to accolades applauding this daring charge?  I share these thoughts risking the reading of far too much into Chamberlain's actions.  Given his deeply rooted character in the noble cause of the Union--to preserve it and set slaves free--could it be that what we witnessed in history is far more than a step toward victory in the war, but rather the Spirit of the cause as it filled and rallied Chamberlain?  As if he felt destiny in his hands and it went up in the cry, "Bayonet!" 

20th Maine Monument on Little Round Top

When I have stood by this monument on Little Round Top, I have heard the musket fire, seen trees cut in half, and smoke hanging like fog.  Who is it that truly sees through the thick of battle and conflict?  It may be the vision of higher courage for greater cause that charged down that hill. 

Atheist Monument, Starke, Florida

Monument to Atheism

Well, they certainly found the fitting town for a monument to atheism--"Starke," Florida.  The purpose of the New Jersey based group was equal time, putting their monument next to the 10 commandments--as if the 10 commandments are the bottom line for a belief in God.  The 1500 lb granite monument has quotations from American leaders and well-known atheists.  (One is Madelyn Murray O'Hare--and I thought that got religion before she died.)  The difficulty of course with atheism is that it submits that all belief in God is wrong--unlike the agnostic, who at least leaves room for doubt and covers his/her bet in case there is one.


  "When you look at this monument, the first thing you will notice is that it has a function. Atheists are about the real and the physical, so we selected to place this monument in the form of a bench," said David Silverman, president of American Atheists.

From my microphone....
I saw the above quotation and I wondered to myself:  it used to be that people believed in what they could see--that was the world.  Then along came the microscope and the telescope--and reality changed dramatically.  Then how about the electron microscope? the Hubble "telescope"?  To say with atheists that reality is only what can be seen and measured is a limited view indeed.

As I watched the unveiling, I saw people dash over and have pictures taken on it.  Thought I to myself?  Who is that going over to sit on the bench?  No!  Couldn't be???  Surely not!  Once again, Herod and all the surrounding countryside were afraid....  Life is always more than what it appears and the greatest truths and enduring realities cannot be photographed...