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Environmental
Stewardship Commission
(MEESC) |
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Environmental
Stewardship Commission
(MEESC) |
|
No Better Gift
by the Rev Roger Weaver
I’m back at the table in the front of the window and looking out watching the chickadees instead of writing an article for the newsletter. I know that it’s wasting time, I’ve got to get to work; but when I watch chickadees in a concentrated way – not just the casual unfocused way that I do so often, but in an engaging way –, I find that it can reach within the joy spectrum near the shade of watching grandchildren. Both of them are peak experiences and are rivaled only by such experiences as being with children or with good friends. They are all of the Holy and wonder-filled. They are sacred.
Chickadees, children, grandchildren, and good friends have a lot in common. It is enough that they are. It is enough that we can be with them. It is enough. No, it is more than that; they are like finding a rare pearl or hidden treasure. They are worth sacrificing even your life. They arrive at that elite status no by anything that they do, but by who they are. It is a nobility given by birth.
There is a wonderful and harmonious transaction that takes place with birth. The mother and father can gaze with awe upon the child and see the mysterious gift of life. The child, having grown, may gaze upon mother and father and his or her own beginnings and rejoice in the mysterious gift of life.
And so we pray in that ancient eucharistic prayer, “... we offer and present unto Thee, O Lord, our selves, our souls and bodies ...”, knowing that no better offering can be made, and no better gift can be given.
Merry Christmas.
The Rev. Roger Weaver is a retired priest of the Diocese of Minnesota. His last congregations, the East Range Episcopal Congregations, are located on the Iron Range and covering most of the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness. He originally wrote this article in December 1991 for the East Range Epistle (a newsletter of the East Range Episcopal Congregations). He and we welcome your comments. Please address your comments or additional reflections to Roger Weaver or any MEESC member, or mail them to:| MEESC
Holy Trinity Church Box 65 Elk River, MN 55330-0065 USA |
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