One is NOT Only

May a window of light always surprise you…

This line from the John O’Donahue poem FOR SUFFERING came to mind as I drove to work this week.  Every day I drive along the Clinch River and every day the view is different. The river often has a mist hovering over it in the morning which is rather other worldly, but on this morning the mist was so thick that you could barely see the river and the traffic was crawling. I rounded a bend in the road and the beauty literally stopped me in my tracks and I pulled into a parking lot to gaze at the sun burning a hole through the mist and reflecting off the water. The picture below hardly captures the captivating beauty of the scene.

I moved to this town two months ago to start a new job after living in Nashville for twenty years!  This new job meant changing  not just my place of work but moving to a new city and leaving cherished family and friends.  I chose this…but I did not fully understand all this choice entailed.  I thought I had thought it through and was excited when after a sixth month application and interview process I was offered the job. But things have not turned out as exactly as I expected. The longing for family and the familiar has been overwhelming at times.   Silly things like not being able to find the library made me burst into tears. I questioned why 3 months ago this seemed like the obvious path. Sadness is like a gray mist settling over our spirit. And just like a mist on a river that hides all the beauty flowing beside us, the sadness has made me oblivious to so much promise around me. Sadness can’t be just wished away… but it can be a reminder of how much we love so it is also a gift.

Light shows up in unexpected ways- going to check the mail and there is a package in the
mailbox and yes it is for you and you have not ordered anything-a friend sent you a surprise!   A friend calls and says-I started to text but I felt you needed something more personal-and she was right you really did,  a stranger asks if you need help putting air in your car tire, a friend offers to fix the flat tire on your bike, another friend sends you ideas for fun things to do in your new town, and then you go to water the hanging fern on your porch and there is a bird’s nest with lovely blue eggs and a baby bird!!  …little windows of light all day every day. The impulses we have to make a call, send that card, smile or talk to a stranger can all be windows of light coming just when someone needs it. I give thanks to the Divine Creator who chose to shine through at just that moment when I needed a reminder that Light is here.

©  Michelle Campanis 2017