of the heron and the snail

 

expect the unexpected

two days ago I sat by the newly-invigorated mountain creek,

centering my impatience with meditation,

and toward the end of my 20 minute session,

before me erupted a fluttering flap of great wings,

and then austere perfection--a great blue heron was just there,

almost as if it materialized within the smoke of its fluttered wings,

for several minutes I continued my meditation,

and it gazed raptly at the rushing water,

I rose up slowly, went into the house,

got my camera, apprised my wife of the apparition at the creek,

and I returned slowly, expectantly,

to where I could see the heron, and it could see me,

it decided I was no threat

as long as I was calm and just to its periphery,

for long minutes my camera worked to hold the heron on its pensive hunt,

punctuated by quick jabs with its beak,

propelled by the impressive muscles of its supple serpentine neck,

I moved down the bank, slowly, deliberately,

to where open views allowed dozens of pictures, 

including some sport photography shots of the heron taking to the air,

the heron flew up, up, and away,

my camera and my soul full

of what was revealed, and not expected,

I work hard to be ready

for what might be within a moment,

and sometimes it all works,

it's great to be aware that every moment has gifts within it,

for example, every scene has extraordinary photos inherent within it,

the trick is to see them, to take them,

to let an order already there

be seen by the orderer within,

and potential becomes actual,

even a snail on a rock

has a story that needs to be heard.

by Henry H. Walker

July 28, ‘24

everything is connected

 empathic leap after leap

empathy is the gateway

into imitating the idea of God,

that underlying presence which is of Creation itself

and knows and expresses how everything is connected,

empathy is the key to escape the prison

within which individuality can encase us,

often we can be seduced by pushing 

who we feel ourselves to be onto the other,

congratulating ourselves that we know another

for we figure they are just like us,

commonality comforts us with the old,

difference stretches us with the new,

such a leap of projecting ourselves onto others helps a bit

to get us a small step out of our ego-centrism,

but, unfortunately, it also reinforces the limiting mistake

 that who we are is really just who others are,

instead we should celebrate both commonality and difference,

diversity, equity, inclusion,

shouts at us to expand perspective,

such as the challenging Christian call to love our enemy,

for they are also somehow us,

a further empathic step draws us 

to connect with other primates, with other mammals,

so that our wolf cousins should not be killed with prejudice,

our whale cousins should not be turned into meat,

instead we should marvel at whatever they are doing 

with their being, with their song,

birds can also spark us to love and joy in their being,

then what about insects?

can we feel as the ant? as the cicada?

as the caterpillar and its metamorphosis?

and that's only in the Animal Kingdom,

scientists and gardeners and lovers of beauty

reach to understand the Plant Kingdom,

how Gaia, the great alchemist, captures the Sun as sugar

so that life has energy, and finds itself with purpose,

somehow hidden within the gestalt of plant structures,

such a world calls us to leap where we don't know where to go,

we need to imagine ourselves throughout a great tree,

in the hope of a flower,

in the cooperation of root and mycelia,

for us to become more of who we should be,

we need a life of empathic leap after leap,

not only into living things but also into rock and their children,

we need to recreate ourselves 

in the image of the Divine 

that holds all together.

by Henry H. Walker

July 26, ‘24

"in trust"

 

Life as Stewardship

in my dream

I look out and see Daddy newly-returned,

he sits in the car we've just labored to fix,

and he sees to it that it works,

that we've done well with our charge to keep it going,

what a powerful metaphor

for how we work to live our lives,

as if those we are care about,

who are gone for good,

return,

and judge us and our actions,

we maintain what we call "the cabin"

a last homely house where city morphs to wild wood, 

Daddy used to say

"my backyard is thousands and thousands of acres!"

and now there's a trust we help manage

that keeps this gateway to "the mountains"

open and affordable,

kept up to high standards

yet full of the personal touch,

I stand at a grave

and pray that I remember,

there I pledge my self to use my life to honor my parents,

to express as well as I can the wonder of their lives,

and of all who have touched me for the good,

if spirits were to return,

I would hope they would judge my stewardship

as jobs well-done

by Henry H. Walker

July 24, ‘24