A Bing Cherry Pause

It was sweltering hot in the shop, loud with the rev of motors, dense with the choke of exhaust, frenetic with the bustle of customers. I breezed out of the office to meet it head on when my grease tainted fingertips, unfit for a snack break, made a quick dip into the plastic container of sweet, juicy cherries sitting on the black refrigerator adjacent to the coffee pot table. In spite of the multi-tasking mesh my mind had become that morning, something caused me to pause when I put a cherry in my mouth. I bit down on the firm,flavorful fruit and gazed out the always opened garage door. I stopped activity for one brief moment and breathed deeply. Time flowed backwards taking me somewhere familiar but not identifiable. I felt peaceful, detached; then my conscious took notice and forced me back to work. I spit my seed into the trash can and rushed outside to greet the next customer. What a simple,delicious combination of spirit and earth, if only for a moment.

I will be still, and let the earth be still along with me. And in that stillness we will find the peace of God. It is within my heart, which witnesses to God himself.   From A Course in Miracles

In a Squirrel Cage

At the break of dawn when the first light peeks over the flailing vines on the other side of the fence and pushes past the line of trees on the  horizon, something impish happens in the tree in my back yard. Three, sometimes four and occasionally five small squirrels begin their morning dance up and down the willowy branches. They fly from wispy tree limb to wispy tree limb. They grab small bits of "tree stuff" shove it in their mouths and run again. They are life. They are life at its finest. Should a squirrel ever be locked in a cage?

 Awake, my soul!...I will awake the dawn. I will give thanks to you, O Lord.
from Psalms 108