I Take Joy

The new journal cracks open crisply, the pen dances forth to display the first waltz of words in the symphony of my thoughts. I sit pensively with pen in hand because my internet connection has fled once again. I know not where those invisible waves tarry to when they vanish, but I do know the unseen knitting of my box to those I know around the world has become a norm to me and I miss it when the door locks me out. Without frowning I merely pick up pen and record a thought for later posting. My brain can still compute all on its own. : )

Alas, I digress . . . with delight. You see, today I stand poised between Indian Summer and true Chilly Fall. Though my Japanese lanterns still swing from the trees, glowing with the memories of balmy nights spent stargazing, the surrounding foliage takes on the hue of a deep rich autumn tapestry.

As the mercury drops the montage of fall springs to life. Twin trees shading the winding walk become like goblets of burgundian wine calling to mind a roaring fire and a cozy read before it.

Like a stunning sapphire brooch, a jay pauses in the tree top, resting from his game of tree-top swooping.

Did he choose this tree above all others knowing the contrast would set off his plumage like royal robes? Has instinct dealt him such vanity, or do I merely notice his beauty through my own vain views? I stand still and observe, but my bright pink top gives me away, thus he flees uppermost in a neighboring pine and melts into the branches heavy with comrades. I stand still; they stay away. Moments pass before they jet off from towering pine to towering pine, arcs and dives choreograph their dance under skies grayed with the promise of rain. I stand transfixed. Having found these tranquil moments in a day laced with dentist appointments and such, I savor the sweetness of a peaceful short-sleeved walk, hoping that tomorrow’s predicted rain shower ushers in a welcome to sweaters.

In the midst of a season’s change I pause and drink in the wonder of the teeming of life all around me. No planning, no worries, no preparation . . . simply the open eyes and heart and will to receive the beauty of a glorious yet ordinary day in the woods I call home.

Long ago, Fra Giovani shared a Christmastime sentiment that I choose to celebrate every day:

I salute you!

There is nothing I can give you which you have not;

but there is much, that, while I cannot give, you can take.
No heaven can come to us unless our hearts find rest in it today.

Take Heaven.
No peace lies in the future which is not hidden in this present instant.

Take Peace.
The gloom of the world is but a shadow;behind it, yet, within our reach, is joy.

Take Joy.
And so . . . I greet you, with the prayer that for you,

now and forever, the day breaks and the shadows flee away.

~ Fra Giovanni, early Italian Renaissance painter of religious subjects (A.D. 1513),

Fra Giovani's heartfelt pleading for joy and peace in a day echo my daily reading of Scripture in Luke 10:41-42

And Jesus answered and said unto her,

Martha, Martha, thou art careful and troubled about many things:
But one thing is needful:

and Mary hath chosen that good part, which shall not be taken away from her.

The good part in my day plays amongst the trees and twitters in my ear.

I choose . . .

I take joy.