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Star struck windows
Reflections seen from within
Glimpses of faces
mingling among the flickering lights.

The scenes of life grab us and capture us.

There is never a dull moment when some stardust falls from the sky and sparkles ones day.

The moments can be brief and the moments can take take us off guard.

Moments such as the time that my dad invited mom and I to the porch to view the Northern lights from our cottage in Maine. A moment that I will always remember seeing the laser beams of yellow and red and blue and green dance across the sky. A moment in time to look up and out at the expanse of the heavens and see the handiwork of God. Locking eyes with an audience throughout time.

A moment such as the time when I got stuck out in Cozy Harbor with a single operational oar lock. A time to rely on the one single heavy oar to give a heave into the blue-green depths of the harbor and the strength required to ply it through the waters.
Sun drenching upon my neck and arms.
Unexpected to say the least, but enough to bring me full circle many times, inching one at a time until I reached the dock safely.

Times such as the spotting of a perfect clam shell on the beach
hinged together in beauty. Wrapped carefully for the journey home and placed in the box on the closet shelf.
Then that unexpected moment for its crash from the closet shelf to the floor below.
Shattered and rather ordinary now. Dust now filling up the box.

Times to see the beauty of the Moon's eclipse in the summer evening. The time to sit quietly at the window and to watch the light fade away. Hoping to see it blaze brightly again. Only to see it dark. Disappointed not to see it flare again.

Such are these shaping moments. Moments that give one ecstasy and one joy. And sometimes moments to endure through and moments to savor life in its fullest potential, yet to blossom fully.


Against this backdrop, I have moved forward through my life. A life that has had its adventures and its shortcomings. I wish I would listen and look for those invitations and heavenly breaths of great joy more often. As a middle-aged adult, I have the full responsibility for my life. It is not like the times when I was a child and could look to my parents for my daily provision. Now I have to forage for them and make those decisions myself.

I accept when I have broken opportunities and times that do not go as I have planned. That can be a challenge but I am grateful for the times the perfect clam splits in two or when I only have one oar lock to guide me. Keeping me focused on my path so that I don't go astray and appreciating the time for a challenge. When I was young and that happened, I did not analyze the mess I was in as I would now. I brought with it a youthful attitude and a can do attitude.
Not that I can rebuild the broken clam shell either or extend the light from the eclipsing moon either.

One Easter sunday, I received a chambered Nautilus from the Yale Peabody Museum. I have it displayed in the middle of my knicknack shelf in the living room. I love that shell because it is beautifully painted with streaks of red and maroon.
It has a sharp curve to its shell and is shiny. It is firm to the touch but delicate with its wavy and dance-like design.
One day when I had my carpet cleaned, I found a note on my hall table that the shell was damaged and not perfect as it once was. Yet the shell can stil stand up on the shelf and it serves as a splendid reminder to me that I can be beautiful despite the defects and able to stand even in my weakness. I also realized a lesson from that shell when I thought of how God was broken for our shortcomings as well at Easter.
And it was not like the time when I was young and dropped the box with my summer shells. That was painful but served as a lesson for me when my nautilus shell inherited some damage from its fall from grace and beauty.

Only to say that time and space heal our prior hurts and grow us. Times that will bring new ones too.
I look out to the sea and see the tide coming in and the tide going out. Bringing in new nourishment for the resting and dormant shells.
Reliable and constant.
Attitudes that I strive to live up to as well.