The Rivers Run Deep

Many of the blogs I read seem to be thinking deeply, pondering life, its meanings, its purpose – our purpose in that life. Is it the season?

There is the question of fairness as posed by Lisa. What is fair, anyway? Sometimes life seems to be unfair, but we have not been given promises that it would be otherwise. Sometimes the unfairness comes as a result of our choices, sometimes it comes for reasons over which we have no control. We can only work to change it, to make things better – to deal with it if it cannot be changed. There’s no point in moaning about it. Complaining sometimes, if one needs to just vent, get it out of the system. You work to change it or you work to accept it, find a way around it.

Kathy thinks about holiness – what is holy? Is it perception, is it everything? I believe there’s a holiness everywhere, in nearly everything, if we pause in our living of our lives for long enough to see it. There are those things that I think have not a hint of holiness – there are wars (yes, even those Crusades from way back in history, despite the fact they were fought in the name of religion), there are murders both physical and emotional, there is maiming. There is insanity, inability to deal with life. These things are not holy – at least not in my estimation. But I think opening my eyes each morning, loving, laughing, having the ability to make choices – those are holy for me.

Is it the season to ponder, to think deeply, to question? Is it the season that arouses these feelings of faith, these questions? I think the season contributes. I think faith, hope, the recognizing what is holy in our world are important. I care not what you put your faith in, but believing that there is a higher power looking over us, walking beside us, is important. Recognizing that this higher power gives us the ability to be good people in the way we live our lives, the ability to treat others as we wish them to treat us, to overcome adversity, is important. We have been given the ability to make choices, to reason, to differentiate between what is bad and what is good. Because we make our own choices, we bear the responsibility for those choices.

Pause a moment – look at what is around you. Appreciate the good. Appreciate the life. Appreciate the freedom. Yesterday I complained about too many days of cloudy skies and then the sun came out. This morning I awoke early, as I usually do (because I have help called Shasta), and I enjoyed a beautiful sunrise. My gallery below contains photos of that sunrise, a sunrise from last week, and yesterday’s walk with the girls in the sunshine.

The rivers run deep – it is the season.

Click on a picture to see a full-sized slideshow.

The sun announces its rising

The sun casts gold onto the clouds

The alarm, who is always very attentive when food is involved

Clay drain pipes stacked and stored

Time takes its tole

The eyes of the cottonwood

Texture in a slice of burned tree trunk

Did you know power poles were inspected?

The sun chased the clouds away