I love our camping adventures–
being outside
exploring by bike
hiking trails to a view
sipping wine from a jar
watching flames turn to coals
musing about what we forgot
and how we made do
cozy and warm in our tent
grateful for tarps and when
the rain comes with the dark
and leaves with the dawn.
One morning we find
a family of mushrooms has pushed through the soil.
Maybe that’s what the birds were singing about,
that’s why the leaves rustled.
We come home
full
of astonishing
ordinary
moments.
After the last load’s brought in
before the cooler’s unpacked or the laundry’s begun,
I say hello to my plants,
give them a drink,
welcome the new baby leaves.
“My, how you’ve grown,” I say.
And they say the same
to me.
Instructions for living a life:
Pay attention.
Be astonished.
Tell about it.
–Mary Oliver, from the poem Sometimes
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Love Mischief for the World
Near the beginning of the Baldy Mountain Trail in Sorrento, B.C., we walked through this gate. It was lovingly created out of discarded bike parts and a few shovels. This work of art invited me to celebrate each person’s uniqueness and creativity. What a gift we are to each other when we become who we are, do what gives us life, and offer it to the world. In Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge, and the Teachings of Plants, Robin Wall Kimmerer writes, “The most important thing each of us can know is our unique gift and how to use it in the world. Individuality is cherished and nurtured, because, in order for the whole to flourish, each of us has to be strong in who we are and carry our gifts with conviction, so they can be shared with others.“
What love mischief are you and God doing for the world?
Let me know and I will include it in an upcoming post.
An Everyday Pilgrim 