This morning’s message from the Cosmos told me to take a walk on the Padilla Dike Trail. I have come to trust this Cosmic voice when I hear it – it always seems to lead me to the exactly right place I need to be. So I grabbed my camera and headed out to the trail.
Sometimes I just walk as far as the shed, but this time the voice told me to go to the cluster of benches about half-way down the trail. So I did that. And as I was looking out at the water, I saw a little head bob up and then disappear. I recognized what I was looking at right away – an otter! I LOVE otters! Transfixed, I waited for the head to surface again – and then I saw a whole family of otters was out there – I think I counted four of them! They moved towards me through the water – diving and rising – until they were right in front of me! One of them emerged from the water, happily chomping on a fish. Every now and then one of them would swim close to me and look at me – curious what I was all about. I was charmed.
I yelled to a man coming down the trail, “Otters!” And he came over to join me in the otter magic. Because it was a little cold this morning, I had thrown on my knitted pink hat (dating back to 2017) before I’d started on my walk. Now the man smiled down at me and told me he liked my hat. I asked him if he knew when I’d first worn this, and he nodded his head, and said he did. And this led to a conversation about politics – but it wasn’t one of those hopeless, depressing conversations about politics – this conversation was full of humor and hope.
The man, Pat, was a Vietnam vet, and he talked a bit about that. Then I saw he was wearing a jacket with a mountain logo on it, and I asked him if he was a climber. I learned he’d climbed Denali when he and his family had lived in Alaska, and I told him I’d climbed Rainier, Baker, Adams, and Hood in my younger days. And THEN I saw he was wearing a WSU cap, and he told me his daughter had gone to school there, and he was a Coug now. I told him my son and I had both gone there, too.
By this time the little family of otters had swum away, and I could see them scampering on the shore of the island not far out in the bay. I pointed them out to Pat, and we watched them for a little longer.
I asked Pat if I could take his photo – it would probably end up on FB, I told him, and asked him if that was okay. Pat told me he wasn’t on FB, but his wife was – and he’d let her find him there.
After Pat and I parted, I began my walk back to my car – I think I was smiling the whole way. I was so grateful to have seen the otters this morning. Magic!
The magic wasn’t done, yet, though. I discovered a whole ‘nother place I’d never been before – but I’ll put that in the next post. (Photos by Karen Molenaar Terrell.)
For I am persuaded that neither Facebook, PayPal, Fox, or AI, nor trolls, nor bots, nor politicians who lie, – not conglomorates nor fake news nor oligarchs nor gazillionaires – can separate us from the power of Love that is everywhere. -Karen Molenaar Terrell (at 5 in the morning and still half-asleep)
I typed this poem out on my Facebook wall early in the morning, and when I came back to check on it, I found a little box underneath it, with the question: “What does this poem mean?” I was curious what Meta’s AI would have to say about a poem that talks about Meta’s AI. (Which is META by definition.) I found myself laughing out loud when I read when Meta AI had to say about the poem. It was kind of sweet. It actually guessed correctly my intent. It lacked any human ego and took no offense. It was kind of charming. Here’s a screenshot:
Reviews of Dan Brown’s book, The Secret of Secrets, have used the terms “entertaining,” “absorbing,” “encyclopedic lecturing,” “clear bias,” “unnecessary descriptions,” “tedious,” “predictable,” “silly”, “fast-paced,” “fun read.” And I guess I would agree with all of that. 🙂 I enjoyed The Secret of Secrets enough to finish all 671 pages of it – although I found myself frequently checking what page number I was on so I could calculate how much more time I still had to invest in this read.
One of the things that other readers criticized were the constant references to the tourist spots of Prague, but, personally, those references were some of my favorite parts. I love tourist books. Other readers complained about the continual diversions the author takes to roll out facts and details that have little or nothing to do with the plot. Here’s an example, I think, of what they meant: “The Temple of Athena, he mused, recalling how ancient Greeks had practiced catoptromancy by gazing into dark pools of water to glimpse their future.” But, again, being the nerd I am, I kind of liked those diversions. It was like watching an episode of Jeopardy.
But, as a madcap Christian Scientist, here’s what I found most disappointing: Brown’s references to metaphysics. Brown’s book was promising at the start. His character Katherine, a doctor of noetic science, says, “Your consciousness is not created by your brain. And, in fact, your consciousness is not even located inside your head.”
Okay. Cool. As a student of Christian Science I’ve come to feel that we live within the one Consciousness, our Father-Mother God, and are expressions, reflections, manifestations, ideas, children, images and likenesses of this one universal Consciousness. At this point in the book, I was excited about the possibility of Dan Brown exploring the idea of a non-material universal cosmic consciousness.
But as I read further into the book, I realized that Brown still couldn’t quite let go of the notion that consciousness is connected to the brain – with his character Katherine explaining that the brain acts as a transmitter for the “nonlocal consciousness”: “Your brain is just a receiver—an unimaginably complex, superbly advanced receiver—that chooses which specific signals it wants to receive from the existing cloud of global consciousness. Just like a Wi-Fi signal, global consciousness is always hovering there, fully intact, whether or not you access it.”
I felt that Brown was heading the right direction, but he couldn’t quite take that last step of letting go of a physical transmitter for a metaphysical presence.
Brown talks about the idea of a universal consciousness being a part of many religions and cultures. He writes: “The symbol of the halo was widely associated with Christianity, but Langdon knew there were many earlier versions—from Mithraism, Buddhism, and Zoroastrianism—that portrayed rays of energy around their subjects.” And “Like everyone around him, Langdon was stunned. He also knew that this very idea—the notion that human thoughts create reality—existed at the core of most major spiritual teachings. Buddha: With our thoughts, we create the world. Jesus: Whatever you ask for in prayer, it will be yours. Hinduism: You have the power of God.”
Dan Brown lives in Boston – home of The Mother Church for Christian Science. In the textbook for Christian Science, Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy, the word “consciousness” is mentioned 80 times. And I guess I can’t help wondering – and speculating – why Brown didn’t mention Christian Science in The Secret of the Secrets. Sure, Christian Science isn’t considered one of the world’s major denominations – but, as a cultured, intelligent, well-educated man who lives in Boston and wrote a book about metaphysical universal consciousness, I’d expect that Christian Science would have shown up on his radar at SOME point, right?
And this got me to thinking about Dan Brown’s humanness and mine, too. We all have biases. All of us. And I’m thinking it’s human nature to want to be seen by others in our political tribe as not being one of “those guys” over there in the other tribe. As a self-identified “progressive Christian” I’m triggered by anyone trying to lump me in with those “other” Christians – the fundamentalist conservative ones. I make a point of letting everyone know that I am not THAT kind of Christian. And I can imagine that Dan Brown might have the same concerns. This is pure speculation on my part, of course – but it could be that he does NOT want in any way to be associated with those crazy Christian Scientists. And, as a human with my.own biases, I can not blame him. But I might have gained more respect for him if he’d been a little more fearless.
None of what Brown had to say about consciousness seemed “cutting edge” or mind-blowing to me. I’ve lived with these concepts my entire life.
I liked some of the other ideas Dan Brown shared in his book, though. I like the take on the “online world” that Dan Brown’s character, Katherine, offers: “I think you have to consider that the online world is a real world…when you see someone glued to a phone, you see a person ignoring this world – rather than a person engrossed in another world…a world that, like this one, is made up of communities, friends, beauty, horror, love, conflict, right and wrong. It’s all there. The online world is not so different from our world…except for one stark difference… It’s nonlocal.”
Brown writes: “…our current technological explosion is actually part of a spiritual evolution…a kind of training ground for the existence that, in the end, is our ultimate destiny…a consciousness, untethered from the physical world, and yet connected to all things.”
This reminds me very much of an interesting dialogue about science and technology between Mary Baker Eddy and an interviewer, as recounted In Prose Works (Miscellany, p. 345). The interviewer asks Eddy how she feels about the “pursuit of modern material inventions,” and Eddy replies: “Oh, we cannot oppose them. They all tend to newer, finer, more etherealized ways of living. They seek the finer essences. They light the way to the Church of Christ. We use them, we make them our figures of speech. They are preparing the way for us.”
And I like what Brown’s character, Katherine, says about fear and death: “Fear makes us selfish,” Katherine said. “The more we fear death, the more we cling to ourselves, our belongings, our safe spaces…to that which is familiar. We exhibit increased nationalism, racism, and religious intolerance. We flout authority, ignore social mores, steal from others to provide for ourselves, and become more materialistic. We even abandon our feelings of environmental responsibility because we sense the planet is a lost cause and we’re all doomed anyway.” Katherine says, “Death is not the end. There’s more work to do, but science continues to discover evidence that there is indeed something beyond all this. That message is one we should be shouting from the mountaintops, Robert! It’s the secret of all secrets. Just imagine the impact it will have on the future of the human race.” And “The elimination of the fear of death transforms the individual’s way of being in the world.’ Grof believes that a radical inner transformation of consciousness might be our only hope of surviving the global crisis brought on by the Western mechanistic paradigm.”
In Science and Health, Mary Baker Eddy writes: “The fact that the Christ, or Truth, overcame and still overcomes death proves the ‘king of terrors’ to be but a mortal belief, or error, which Truth destroys with the spiritual evidences of Life; and this shows that what appears to the senses to be death is but a mortal illusion, for to the real man and the real universe there is no death-process.” (p. 289) Later in Science and Health, Eddy writes: “Christian scientific practice begins with Christ’s keynote of harmony, ‘Be not afraid!'” (p. 410)
“Man is deathless, spiritual. He is above sin or frailty. He does not cross the barriers of time into the vast forever of Life, but he coexists with God and the universe.” -Mary Baker Eddy
You know those shows you see on television where the bride spends HUGE amounts of time, thought, and bucks choosing the just right ring, dress, caterer, flowers, music, photographer, and reception venue for her “big day” – those shows where every minute detail of the wedding production is analyzed, critiqued, and judged for its merits on visual perfection? Where the ceremony is somber and refined and the highlight of the whole shebang is the dress the bride wears?
Yeah. That wasn’t us.
My engagement ring was a little garnet ring I picked out from a small jewelry shop in Pike Place Market in Seattle, and the man who sold it to us was cheerfully, flamboyantly, hilariously gay – he had us cracking up the minute we walked into his shop. My wedding dress was the first dress I tried on from the sales rack at our local Bon Marche. Cost me $120. Our minister was a hoot – we’d met with him for a required counseling session, and when he told us that anything he had to say to us would be pretty much useless at this point – because it’s really only AFTER the wedding that the bride and groom realize what they’ve gotten themselves into (we later learned that he’d just recently been divorced), we immediately recognized the man had a sense of humor, and he was, for sure, the minister we wanted officiating our nuptials.
The wedding was a joyful, light-hearted affair in a small Methodist church in Gig Harbor – I remember the minister asking us if we really wanted to hold the service in his church – it was very small – could maybe hold 100 people – and very old (it’s since been torn down and a larger church built in a different location) – but, for our purposes, that little church was perfect – I liked the cozy smallness of it and the stained glass windows – and from the church’s steps we could look out across the water and see Mount Rainier rising above the hills in the distance. The wedding itself was simple, joyful, and natural. We weren’t too concerned with “perfection” – we just wanted our guests to feel comfortable and loved.
The reception was held in my parents’ backyard – with the sound of laughter, and the smell of daffodils and plum blossoms, filling the air. And we played volleyball in the pasture – the groom’s team won, but it was a close game. The minister came to the reception, and fit right in with our hooligan families and friends. Before he left he told us that sometimes he’s really worried about the future of the newlyweds he marries – they often seem more concerned about the wedding than the actual marriage – but, after watching us yukking it up with our families and friends, he felt good about being a part of our ceremony. He knew we were going to be alright. We knew how to laugh.
***
When I think about that day, I can’t imagine why anyone would want to deny other people the right to a wedding, and to a life-long commitment in marriage with the partner they love. I can’t understand why any couple would feel their own marriage is threatened by allowing others the same rights that they have. I feel a real yearning for other folks who love one another, and are brave enough to make a commitment to each other, to be allowed to have what my husband and I were allowed to have.
So this really cosmic thing happened today on the boardwalk. I was walking along, enjoying the sunshine and the people and the pups – my old friend, Baker pup; Archie and Buddy; Blue and Maverick; Murphy (who did his Buddha pose for me); and my old friend, little Daisy – and I had to stop and snap a picture of sweet Baker greeting someone on the boardwalk with his paws on the man’s chest – it was just so typical of friendly Baker. Baker always puts a smile on my face.
When the man caught up to me, I showed him the picture I’d taken of him and Baker, and asked him if it was okay to post it publicly. He smiled and thanked me and told me it was fine to post it. I asked him for his name, and he told me he was Ve. “Is that a Vietnamese name?” I asked him. Ve looked surprised that I would recognize a Vietnamese name, and I explained that my Australian daughter-in-law is of Vietnamese heritage, and that she and my son and granddaughter are all learning Vietnamese. Ve asked if they’d ever visited Vietnam, and I told him they’d gone a year ago to visit some of my daughter-in-law’s family who still live there. Ve told me then that his wife was there right now visiting her family while he stayed here and watched the children.
Then Ve said he was a “street photographer” and took pictures of people he met – and we realized we had that in common, too! He said he’d taken a photo a while ago of a pup named Bear and he’d made a card for Bear’s human. He’d been been looking for her for a couple months, but hadn’t run into her again. I asked him to describe Bear, and he took out the card he’d made and showed me Bear’s picture. I instantly recognized little Bear, and told him Bear’s human, Rebecca, was a good friend of mine! (What are the odds, right?!) I told Ve that I’d actually met Rebecca on the boardwalk several years ago (via little Bear), and had run into her again when I’d gone up to Mount Baker for a hike, and we’d become good friends! Ve’s face lit up in a big smile. He said he could totally see the two of us as friends, and asked me if I could get the card to Rebecca.
So on the way home, I stopped by Rebecca’s house to give her the card. She happened to pull into her driveway just after I got there, and I was able to deliver the card in person and get a hug, too!
From the moment I stepped out of my car in the Fred Meyer’s parking lot yesterday afternoon, to the moment I arrived back at my car after shopping, I felt surrounded in magic.
When I arrived, I grabbed a small shopping cart which someone had shoved under a tree in the parking lot, and waited to cross the pavement from where I’d parked to the sidewalk in front of Fred’s. A truck stopped for me, and I gave the driver a smile and a “go ahead” wave, and got a wave back. When the truck went on through, a woman came to the sidewalk, waiting to cross over to where I was standing. We smiled and waved at each other and executed a perfect cross-over together.
As I slowly weaved my way through the store, everyone I met – of every age and color and gender – exchanged a smile with me and treated me with kindness. And when I got to the produce section, a man glanced over at me and, in the same moment, we recognized each other. I scrabbled around in my memory and came up with the name “Matt!” Matt was a former co-worker of my husband’s at the Skagit Valley Herald, but had left his career as a photojournalist to teach full-time in Anacortes 15 or 16 years ago.
Matt’s wife, Jill, a second grade teacher in Anacortes, was there, too. When Matt went to introduce me to Jill, he said, “I’m sorry, but I don’t remember your name…” And that TOTALLY made my day! I have often been that person – the one who doesn’t remember the name – and I felt so proud that I hadn’t been that person THIS time. I thanked Matt for not remembering my name – told him it was reassuring that THIS time I won in the name-remembering thing, and Matt nodded and laughed with me about that. For the next little while Jill, Matt, and I exchanged stories about our teaching careers – talked and laughed and got caught up.
I noticed a young Fred Meyer employee stocking the bananas and intuitively turned to him and smiled. He grinned back at me and said yes, he had been listening into our conversation. Enrique said he wanted to be a school counselor someday – he wanted to be that person who helps students stay in school and get their diplomas – and he was enjoying our conversation about teaching. Enrique was so cool! He was excited about his future in education, excited about getting his degree, excited about helping others. Enrique gave me hope for the world.
When it was time for us to continue on with our shopping, I asked Jill if I could have a hug – because there’s nothing like the hug of a second grade teacher – and she laughed and gave me a bonafide second-grade-teacher hug, and I got a bonus hug from Matt, too.
I got in the checkout line behind a couple maybe in their eighties. I enjoyed watching the way they worked together as a team with their groceries. It occurred to me this couple had maybe been together fifty or sixty years. Watching them, I was kind of in awe of them.
A man came up behind me in the line with no groceries at all. I asked him if he’d like to go in front of me, and he said no, he just wanted to get a pack of smokes and he wasn’t in any hurry.
I turned back to the couple in front of me, just as my former dental hygienist (now retired), Misty, walked by with her husband. Her face lit up into a big grin when she saw me, and we waved at each other and blew each other kisses. Magic!
Now the older gentleman in the couple in front of me in line turned around and smiled and mouthed the word “sorry” – I think he was apologizing for his transaction taking so long – and I laughed and told him it was all good.
After I’d paid, I headed for the exit. I saw a woman in the lobby looking at the shopping carts – there were only a few large ones there. My groceries were not so heavy that I couldn’t get them back to my car without a cart, so I asked the woman if she’d like a small cart. She smiled and said she would. So I took my bag of groceries out of my cart and handed it off to her.
It was like my whole shopping experience had been choreographed or scripted or something: Enter stage right with a small shopping cart; exchange smiles with people; run into Matt and Jill; get into conversation with Enrique; get behind the sweet couple at the checkout stand; pass off the cart to the woman in the lobby; exit stage right.
So there’s this verse in the Bible that I’ve been pondering the last week, and it’s led me to a better understanding of what real wealth is. Here’s the verse: “Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God.” (I Corinthians 2)
I’ve come to understand that things like patience, kindness, honesty, compassion, forgiveness, fairness, and joy don’t cost us anything, and are the door that leads to the heaven that Jesus said was “within” us. We can’t find patience or kindness on a shelf at the supermarket. We can’t put a gallon of honesty on our debit or credit cards, or use Venmo to buy a pound of forgiveness. We can only find those things within us. And there’s no limits to those things – you can’t run out of them; everyone has equal access to them; and they’re totally free!
I’ve been really conscious of drawing on the unlimited supply of patience and kindness this week as I’ve navigated my way through the challenges of life. I’ll admit I haven’t always been patient or forgiving this week – but I feel like I’ve made a start to finding my way to heaven. I think the more I practice, the easier it will become.
At the Santa Monica Farmers Market, I met Jordan, who was selling honey and beeswax candles and art; Javier, selling juice and Mexican fruit; Jacob, selling baklava made by his Lebanese mom from an old family recipe; Nicholas, selling cheeses made locally; Natalie, a college student at Middlebury, who left the snow in Vermont to come our here and visit friends and soak in the rays, and who graciously let us join her at her table while she ate her lunch; and Tristan, in his most excellent “problem” cap – “Are you the…?” I asked, and “Yes, I am the problem,” he answered, laughing.
At a playground at Venice Beach I met Octavio, who was the DJ for a three-year-old’s birthday party there – keeping the background beat for the toddlers and the grown-ups alike.
And I met Shawn – who recently moved from the Netherlands with his family, and who was there in the playground with his two little ones while they played in the sand with the playground toys. I was impressed by Shawn’s parenting skills – I saw him set the boundaries for his children, and maintain those boundaries with laughter and consistency. “You like being a dad, don’t you?” I asked him, and he laughed, and nodded his head, and said he did, even in the chaos.
After Venice Beach we went to the aquarium and historic carousel on the Santa Monica Pier. My granddaughter touched a starfish and rode on a magnificent carousel horse, and I took many photos.
March 24
have to share these fine folks with you.
– Alex was the server at the Tacos San Miquel Arcangel Oaxacan restaurant we visited in Mar Vista. When he was serving our food, he noticed our toddler granddaughter had gotten some of the hot sauce into her food, and quickly pointed this out to us. As her eyes started watering up, he went back and fetched a brand new meal for her, without charge. I told him he was a hero.
– Daniel (LA cap) was our shuttle bus driver to LAX from the rental car building. After we settled into the seats behind the driver’s seat, I gathered up my courage, and said, “Okay. This is really embarrassing, but… we want to give you a tip, but all we’ve got are twenties. Can you give me back change for a twenty?” Daniel busted out laughing, and thanked me. He told me he could give me whatever change back I wanted. I asked for ten, and he pulled out a ten dollar bill from his tips and exchanged it for my twenty. Daniel was so cool – and I really appreciated his understanding of our situation.
– Once we got up to our plane’s waiting area, I looked for a seat that had a plug-in for my phone’s charger. I asked a young man in his late teens or early twenties if I could sit in the seat next to him to use his charger. He smiled and said sure. When he saw I was having a hard time figuring out how to plug my phone in, Edyson quietly plugged it in for me. I told Edyson how much I appreciated his kindness. Edyson gives me hope for our future.
– I’m always eager to see who our seatmate will be on the airplaine, and I was so happy when a smiling young man approached and introduced himself as the man in the window seat. Our new seatmate immediately opened the shade on his window. I told him how glad I was that he’d done that because I like looking out the window.
Grady and I started talking then about the landforms we can see from the plane – and I mentioned Mount Rainier. This is when I learned that Grady had climbed Rainier. I told him I’d climbed Rainier, too, decades ago – my dad (and…ahem… I MIGHT have mentioned that my dad is in Wikipedia for mountain climbing) had led me to the summits of Rainier and Baker and Adams and Hood when I was younger. Grady said that he’d climbed Mount Rainier when he worked there as a ranger – and I told Grady I had climbed it when I worked at Rainier, too!
I asked him what he’d majored in to get him in a position as a ranger. Grady said he’d majored in History – and I told him that had been my major, too! He said a lot of folks get into the park service with a degree in science, to do research. I told him my dad had majored in geology, and worked as a ranger and a guide at Rainier for several years.
THEN I learned that Grady now works in the North Cascades and I told him we lived in Skagit County. Whoah. And THEN I learned that his girlfriend works at Rainier now, and lives in Ashford, and he and his girlfriend know our good friends, Rick and Jana Johnson, who own the pottery shop there.
Connections, my friends! I love these connections – the new ones and the ones that connect us to the old ones, too.
I drove into Mount Vernon to take the steps I needed to take to donate my Cosmic Connections book to the library there. I was greeted at the counter by the ever-kind and ever-welcoming CJ, librarian extraordinaire. CJ asked me if the application explains that once a book is donated, whether they decide to put it on their shelves or not, they won’t be giving it back to me. I told him that the application mentions that, and that I’m fine with whatever they want to do with my book – I just hope it will bring some joy to whoever ends up with it. We chatted then about what my book is about. I told CJ that Cosmic Connections chronicles the experiences I have meeting cool people and sharing the joy of these connections. I told him a lot of the stories take place in Mount Vernon, and that HE would probably be in my next book, and he started cracking up.
I love people who know how to laugh with me.
After I’d dropped off my book, I walked along the River Walk down to Lions Park, taking photos of the bloated Skagit River as I went. I watched a pair of birds cruising down the river on a log, like it was there own personal yacht. That brought me a grin.
Then I walked down to the Skagit Valley Food Co-Op to get myself a mocha. There was such joy there today. Keely was behind the counter. Her hair brought me joy and I asked if I could take her photo. She grinned and gave me permission.
A young woman named Vanessa was greeted by an old friend she hadn’t seen in a while, and their happiness and excitement at seeing each other again brought me more joy. Before Vanessa left the store, I asked her if I could get her picture – explained she’d brought me joy today. She laughed and graciously agreed to a photo – you feel the irresistible joy from her, too, right?
When I stopped off at the post office, I saw a little frog hopping around in the parking lot. “What are you doing here, buddy?” I asked him. The parking lot did not seem like a good place for him. So I scooped him up and walked him down to a bank next to the slough. He hopped out of my hands and then looked up at me. I’m pretty sure he was smiling. Live long and prosper, my little friend!
And if all that magic wasn’t enough, later, when I went to the bank, I couldn’t help but notice the cool red shoes of the woman in front of me in line. I told her they reminded me of my childhood, and she laughed and nodded. We talked then about playing outside all day when we were youngsters – tag and kick-the-can. Her shoes brought back a lot of happy memories for me.
Morna and I met through Facebook a while ago, and today we actually met up in the person at our local food co-op.
I love the Skagit Valley Food Co-op! I always find the nicest people there – both customers and employees alike. I appreciate the friendly smiles exchanged, the helpfulness, the humor.
As soon as I walked in the door I saw an old neighbor from forty years ago, standing in line to order coffees for friends and herself. I walked up to Anne and, smiling, presented myself. Her face lit up in recognition and we gave each other a hug. How cool is it that I’ve lived long enough in the same county that I can run into old neighbors, and students, and friends I’ve known for forty years?! As Anne put it, we’re not “the cute young things” we were forty years ago – but I think at this point in our lives, that’s not something we spend a lot of time worrying about. 😀
I’d gotten to the co-op before Morna, and went on up to the counter to order my mocha. The cashier asked if there was a good name for my coffee, and I leaned in and half-whispered, “I’m not sure it’s a GOOD name, but my name is Karen.” She grinned at that, passing my Karen test.
While I waited for my coffee, I found a table for two and set my backpack there to save it for Morna and myself. There was a man sitting at the table next to ours, with a Bible in front of him. He had kind eyes. We got to talking about the March weather – the rain and the dark.
Morna soon showed up, and my coffee arrived, too – and we settled in at our table to have our first real chat together. I learned today that Morna is a hoot! We laughed and talked about our hobbies and backgrounds and the world. We found some things we had in common – we both have two brothers and no sisters; our fathers had both been climbers; we shared the same values. Morna asked if it would be okay to make a sign that had TRUTH JUSTICE KINDNESS on it, like mine. I told her that would be great!
The man sitting at the table – the man with the kind eyes and the Bible – called over to us then. “Excuse me,” he said, “I see how you’re supporting each other. Are you Christians?” Morna nodded to me and told him that I was, but she wasn’t.
I said, “I saw that you had a Bible with you. What are you reading right now?”
He told me he was reading Psalms, and I told him that I found Psalms comforting. “I believe God is Love,” I told him. “And I find Love in Psalms.”
The man, MW, agreed with me that Love is God’s name. We agreed that Love is the most powerful. “Just like that Bob Marley song,” I said. And then I turned to Morna to see if she knew the song I was thinking of. “One Love,” she said, nodding.
When it came time to leave, Morna and I gave each other another hug, and I told MW how glad I was to have met him today. He smiled and said it was good to meet me, and we wished each other a good day.
Since I was already out of the house, I decided to mosey over to west Mount Vernon to check out the local daffodil fields. I ended up at RoozenGaarde gardens, and was not disappointed by the beauty I found there – hyacinths and forsythia and puddles of golden daffodil reflections. To get to the daffodil fields, I needed to walk about a quarter mile through mud and muck and puddles, but it was totally worth it! And it was fun to meet other daffodil-lovers on the other side of the mud and muck and puddles.
I asked a family visiting from Florida if they’d like me to take a picture of all of them together, and they happily handed me a cellphone. Then I asked if I could snap their photo for myself, too, and they graciously posed for me in front of the daffodils. I learned their last name was Nguyen – which gave me a grin, because that is my daughter-in-law and granddaughter’s last name, too! (And, of course, I had to share a picture of my toddler granddaughter with the Nguyen family.)
As I walked through the golden peace of the daffodil fields – the air filled with the scent of spring flowers and birdsong – I found myself thanking Love for bringing me to this place, and these beautiful gifts of spring – for connecting me with Anne and Morna, MW and the Nguyen family.
Adventures of the Madcap Christian Scientist 