Step Outside

A strong southern breeze blew the blossoms off a row of young flowering trees. For a moment the petals swirled on the air like snowflakes and then lightly touched the ground.  Scooting across the parking lot they came to rest along a curb forming a narrow stream of pink and white velvet. This little tributary of wonder was so breathtaking that I was compelled to stop and kneel on its asphalt shore. Gently, I scooped the petals into my hands. I felt their delicate softness as I brought my cupped hands to my nose.  Breathing in their subtle fragrance, I satisfied a thirst I didn’t know I had. 

Ah!  How the earth nourishes us in unexpected ways.

On April 8th we here in central Ohio were in the path of the solar eclipse.  For months the anticipation built.  Schools closed for the day, people traveled hundreds of miles to get the best view.  Even hospital workers left their duty stations and flowed out into parking lots to get a glimpse of this miraculous once-in-a-lifetime occurrence.

As I sat poised at my window feeling the stillness and the darkness slowly permeate the peak of day, the voice of Kermit the Frog came to mind: What’s so amazing that keeps us stargazing?  What do we think we might see?

Maybe we are all wannabe believers, if not in miracles, then in magic.  Mother Nature provides us with so much enchantment, and she does so while staying one step ahead of the scientists, perhaps to bedevil the calculations and the hypotheses, to continue to engage us, mesmerize us, and humble us.

Moses once challenged God:  “Show us your glory!”  Old and weary, fearing an uprising from his followers, uncertain of the future or where they were going, Moses went into the mountains to have a word with God. Moses did not say, “Show us the money.”  He said, “Show us your glory.” Surely, Moses was at a time in his life when he needed some encouragement, but I wonder if God was disappointed by the request.  Every day glory surrounded the Israelites.  The sea parted.  Manna appeared on the ground for breakfast, quail wandered into the campground for dinner.  Were the Israelites a bit like us? Too tired?  Too preoccupied? Too self-focused?  Too fearful?  Fatigue and fear have a way of blinding us and dulling our senses.

Perhaps for Earth Day 2024 our prayer should not be “show us your glory,” but help us to see it.  Remove the blinding glare of narcissism and outrage, the pains of fear and discouragement, and help us to marvel at all the wonders that are free and available to us all.  Help us to remember that we, too, are part of nature, another marvel of creation.  Help us to experience the things we can believe in, even if fleeting.  Remind us of wonder and possibility, of goodness, of things that are pure and without pretense.  Help us to see the unseeable.  Even though the solar eclipse has passed, help us to remember that the view is thick with majesty if we seek it just as earnestly.

On Earth Day 2024, let us crack open the mundane everydayness of our lives, and stop watching bad news on our phones and TVs.   Let’s get outside.  No matter how discouraged we may be with the world, with life, nature can still surprise and delight us.  The Earth is waiting.  There is a living ecosystem beneath the sidewalk, butterflies are emerging from the bushes, buds are bursting with flower and fragrance, stars are streaking across the night sky, birds are singing…There is so much to believe in.

Monday, April 22, is Earth Day.  Meet me beneath the sky that we share, in the light and the warmth of the bright sun that spends itself for all of us. 

See you outside!

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