Musings

It was a beautiful spring morning…one that was relished after a few days of cold temperatures and sleeting rain. The buds were green on the trees, the daffodils shining sweetly; I couldn’t wait to get out and walk out the cobwebs of too much winter and too little sun! Spring had given us a glimpse of herself the week before, but hadn’t stayed around. Maybe, this time, spring was taking hold.

I soon found myself on the path by the river, surrounded by brush and birds. The air was  crisp and clean. I felt as though I could walk all day  and even then, it would feel too short. Signs of the season were everywhere I looked–at my feet, overhead–it was as though stray twigs were reaching out and grabbing me as if to shake me into mutual delight!

And then I saw them. Right in front of me. A pair of broken sunglasses lying in the middle of the path. Broken in half and left behind. I thought it a noble gesture to kick them to the side, keeping them from interfering with a dog on a walk, a person on a run, a biker speeding past. So I did, I kicked them out of my way and out of the way of others. I walked happily onward.

And then, something inside started gnawing at me, and I thought I shouldn’t have  kicked them aside, but picked them up and thrown them away. Why just clutter the path, why not clean it? So I turned around and walked back, picked them up, and carried them with me. Even though my feet stayed on course, my thoughts didn’t. I started wondering who these glasses belonged to, how they had become broken, if the person was young or old, had an accident, broken them in some kind of rage…or maybe, they had just worn out and snapped of their own accord. But they were left as a shrine, in the middle of the path, a testament to somebody being there before I was.

As I carried them,  I remember thinking I should say a prayer for this person, no one I will ever know and may never meet…..but God knows this person, God knows the story, and God hears my prayers. Maybe, just maybe, that particular somebody needed a bit of extra attention that day, maybe my thoughts were felt.

Isn’t that what we’re called to do? Aren’t we called to keep our eyes open and pick up the pieces as we are able? It’s so easy to want to remain unencumbered, fancy free, foot loose! I didn’t physically come to the aid of the person, but, I’d like to think my thoughts and prayers did. And in doing so, what changed wasn’t the state of the glasses, but the state of my heart. Spring was on its way.

[Image by: .imelda]