The Invitation

Photo: (c) Jamie K. Reaser

I find myself wondering if it’s just not being heard.

These things happen every day.

Recently, for me, it’s come in the form

of a little red screech owl:

In the afternoon, when the

sun gives just enough warmth to

mask November’s chill,

I arrive…

having hiked to the mountain top

…like a parishioner standing

below a pulpit, looking upward

for something that I don’t yet know

how to fully believe in,

And he sits there snugged in the three-quarter hollow,

eyes closed, feathers fluffed,

some lifting and twisting at the edges

when the wind’s fingers pass by,

others rising and falling…

“Did you see it just happen now?”

…when he breathes.

And that’s it.

That’s the invitation.

That’s the response.

That’s our ceremony.

To fail to show up and participate

would be to deny that persistent voice

that is constantly asking me,

“Did you see that miracle?”

~ Jamie K. Reaser, Author
Published in "Coming Home: Learning to Actively Love this World"

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