Surprises by Barry Hughes

 


This morning I was greeted by this hauntingly beautiful sky. The scene caused me to do a double take. This was not the sun, as I’d first assumed. This was the moon glowing through the clouds, reflecting the sun so intensely that it seemed to burn with a fire all its own. I had to pause and work hard at comprehending this unusual sight. All this before I had walked the length of my driveway.

As I enjoyed this moment of surprise, it was a reminder of how we relate to the unexpected in different ways. We can embrace the surprise with joy and with a childlike curiosity, living into the moment and opening our lives to the new experience. But we can also dig in our heels against anything that comes into our life that hints of the unknown, determined to continually fight a battle we know, deep down within us, we lost long ago. We cannot control everything.

As I get older, I find that I enjoy the surprises more and more, and my many walks have been full of such surprises. Coming upon glimpses of the amazing complexity of creation. Finding myself a witness to the joy of others as they celebrate the goodness of being together. Observing how neighbors have welcomed new babies and found ways to celebrate birthdays in the midst of these days of pandemic. Feeling a sense of belonging by passing the same people, day after day, and becoming friends of a sort without speaking a word. Finding God close in the simplest of routines. These surprises have been blessings.

Perhaps the biggest surprise is that today I write the 100th of these reflections. Born of an unwanted surprise, yet filled with wonderful surprises each day, these endless miles have been good to me. My vision is clearer and my heart more open. I am, as never before, open to the surprises of life.

Peace.

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