The Window
It was a perfect day--a good book to read, cats curled up on her lap, not too hot, and nothing scheduled for the rest of the day--one of the lazy days of early summer. As she read something caught her attention from the corner of her eye. Something passed in front of the living room windows. Presuming a bird had flown by or flitted in or out of the bushes near the front of the house she returned to her readying.
A shadow appeared on the edge of the window again. It slowly moved to the center of the window and back to the edge. Her curiosity was drawn. As she watched it looked almost as if something was waving at her through the window. She wondered if her son was playing a trick on her--even though she had not heard him come in from school. She moved forward so she could see if the farm gate to the road leading to their home was open--it was still closed--so it couldn't be her son teasing her.
Watching the window the waving movement slowly moved from the lower half up the window. It stayed near the edge, would shadow toward the middle and then back to the edge again. The shape was long and slender--unlike any bird shadow she could imagine. Putting down the book, she--and the cats as well--watched as the window shadow continued to wave.
Finally, her curiosity overcame her. She moved the cats and walked toward the window. Moving the curtain so that she could see better, she could not believe her eyes. A snake was crawling up the side of her house and up the window. As she watched it slowly, cautiously made its way to the top portion of the glass. It was beautiful and graceful--and defying the odds of gravity. The cats, leaping onto the back of a wing chair joined her as she watched in fascination as the black rat snake inched itself up the glass.
Knowing her family would never believe her, she got her camera and carefully opened the front door of the house about five feet over from the window. After checking to make sure the snake was still on the window, she opened the storm door and looked out--camera at the ready. The snake had made his way to the top of the window and was trying to reach across the soffit of the eave to the gutter along the roof. She quickly took its picture and went back into the house to find something to relocate the snake--after all who wants a snake at their door. When she returned the snake was gone . . . vanished . . . disappeared as if it had never been there.
Her husband called a bit later to say he was on his way home from work--she told him of their visitor. She had hoped to move it to their barn--mice were always after the animals grain or even out to one of the ponds on their land. She was willing to coexist with "no shoulders," just not on her front porch.
Her husband and son arrived at about the same time. As she told them more about their visitor and showed them the picture--they began to search for it. The ground under the bushes was littered with leaves and needles, so they got a rake and cleared the ground. No snake. They searched the bushes and thought they saw him.
Using an axe and shovel handles, the carefully began to move the limbs aside. They saw it . . . lost it . . . and eventually found it again. Curled into a protective ball the snake had wrapped itself around a limb. They slowly, carefully removed it from the bush and took it to a new home under an outbuilding near the barn. Hopefully it would live out its days in peaceful coexistence with the people, horses, and field mice abundant in the area.
As she thought about how the snake had climbed a wall and window she was amazed at the strength, dexterity, and determination it had taken to make the climb. When it fell, it did not curse its creator for not giving it what it wanted but rather trusted that its needs would be met. It trusted its creator to supply its needs.
There is much we can learn from the world about us: dexterity, determination, creativity, tolerance, and coexistence just to name a few. So often we are so focused upon what ourselves that we ignore the needs of others; their basic rights; their needs; their desires. In our rush to accomplish the task or goal we have set for ourselves we don't recognize that a set back or detour may be for a better purpose/reason. We are so determined to take the path we want that we may miss a greater blessing--living in peace with those around us; learning from others; coexisting in peace and harmony.
Creator God, help us to open our eyes to see the lessons around us. Forgive us when we respond to others with repulsion, anger, or strike out in fear. Help us to learn to observe, be aware, love peace, and live together in harmony. So be it. Amen.
Comments
- -- Posted by goat lady on Tue, Jun 25, 2013, at 10:44 AM
- -- Posted by raykayh on Thu, Jun 27, 2013, at 3:35 PM
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