This is the first year I've noticed the flocking habits of robins. They first caught my attention a few weeks ago when the sky darkened outside my office window as no fewer than a hundred robins landed for a feeding frenzy on the crab apple trees adorning the church property (the first time, I might add, that I saw a useful purpose for those @&%! trees)! Although robins have a reputation for being territorial, I watched with utter amazement as they worked together to created Robin Thanksgiving -some bounced on branches and pecked at fruit until it fell onto the ground (which I might add, is the major drawback of these trees) while other birds savored the repast falling from the sky. They stayed about forty-five minutes, flew up into the trees, serenaded us with their lyrical signature tune, and then were gone. It was quite the sight! A smaller group (maybe 25) were feeding outside my window this morning. There was just enough sun hitting the window to keep me obscured from their vision by the glare. They fed within inches of the window, until a cloud passed by and revealed my location - and away they flew! It was nice to share breakfast with them - although I prefer my oat bran to their invertebrate food of choice! A flock of robins pulling spring and new life into the world by their sheer numbers - amazing!
That I noticed the robins this year is a sign that my primary New Year's intention (read: resolution) is continuing to unfold: I set the intention to consciously be more aware - awake - notice - God's presence in the world around me. Since I equate God with that which brings life (and is life), the robins - a traditional harbinger of spring and new life - connect me deeply with God.
It was a quiet day today - ample time for reading and reflection, worship, birdsong, proofing bulletins for worship this Sunday (the wonders of technology) and a long, reflective chat with my spiritual director. It was also the day I asked to borrow "The Book."
"The Book" first caught my attention my first year here at Cottonwood. I had come up for retreat, filled with the usual questions about leadership that pastors like me carry around in their heart, and in the course of a completely unrelated conversation, heard a quote from a book by Ruth Fox, OSB entitled Wisdom Leadership. I was captivated by the quote, and looked for the book in the library (no copy), checked Amazon (never heard of it), did a google search (nada), and finally went to my director and asked if she knew where I could find this book. She loaned me her copy, and I went back to my room and read it in one sitting - thrilled to find a book that talked about leadership in a way that made sense to my heart as well as my head. I knew that this book, and the ideas within it, would guide me into becoming a more effective leader while keeping me true to my values and beliefs. What a gift - and challenge!
Almost every visit back to the Monastery I have asked to borrow "The Book," and dipped into its wisdom on another aspect of leadership (this pastor has no end to her questions about what it means to express healthy leadership in a Christian community). The book always challenges me, and never disappoints me. I once even contacted the author to see if she could locate an extra copy of her book for me - it is the kind of book that belongs on my nightstand! Alas, she knew of no extra copies (it was self-published by the Sacred Heart Monastery in Richardton, North Dakota), and all the copies she had were gone. I accepted that I would only have access to "The Book" while on retreat, and called reading and discussing this book the "leadership seminar" that was part of my retreat time.
As I sat with "The Book" today, I felt compelled to try Amazon one more time - to see if they had a copy. And they did! A library had parted with their copy (fools!) and it was on Amazon for less than lunch at Shangri La. Soon it will be on my nightstand, and can inspire and challenge me daily.
One of today's most precious blessings (even more than Amazon and "The Book") was my time meditating in front of the reredos in the chapel. This amazing reredos is designed to allow the artwork to be changed - I love it when the Hubble/Holy Spirit image is up there - the universality of Spirit is breathtaking. But instead of my favorite image, now there is a painting of Jesus finding and helping a lost lamb. Not my preferred kind of artwork - the standard, barefoot European Jesus romantically helping the lost lamb - ho hum. But today I spent some time with it and noticed...attended...contemplated...and saw that the lamb was scratched and bleeding, and caught in a thorn bush...saw that Jesus was pulling back the branches of thorn bush so the lamb could step back and be free. Will the lamb step out of the thorns into freedom? That, my friends, is the $ 64,000 question posed to all people (and lambs).
The God who pulls back the wounding obstacles and gives us the choice to step away and be free - what a beautiful image of God! How much God must love and respect us to give us that choice - I note with interest that the artist doesn't have Jesus lifting the lamb out of the bush or pulling the lamb into freedom. Instead, Jesus, with bare hands, grasps the thorny branches and holds them back. The rest is up to the lamb. And us.
With love and blessings,
Kim
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