Flowers and Birds!

Flowers and Birds!

A few weeks ago during a sermon I mentioned a famous haiku by the poet, Basho. Maybe we can create a story around the haiku.

It had been a restless night for the old poet. He had been travelling on foot on pilgrimage moving from town to town across Japan. The inn where he stayed last night was small. That wasn't so bad. Not even that he had to share his room with an old man who snored. But, he still itched from the bites of his bedmates -- surely a large extended family of bedbugs! So, itching and scratching, a bit agitated from his experience his thoughts moved toward the young widow and her children. They were living in the next town over. He husband had just died and she had no family. She was taking in laundry to supprt herself and her children, but there was never enough. And her children were hungry. By early morning he had decided to return to the her town and spend some of his time helping her to get her feet back on the ground. This seemed to be where his pilgrimage was taking him. Perhaps he could teach haiku, sharing with her the bulk of the proceeds. So, as the sun rose on his sleepless night, he greeted the innkeeper, had a breakfast of porrige and green tea and set out on the road. It was a good ten miles to the town, a long day's walk. With staff in hand, he set out. One step after the other he made his way past shrines, temples, and farms. He stopped at one shrine to make an offering on behalf of the widow and her children. With the offering, things eased a bit as his step quickened.

It is then that he noticed: What a beautiful day! He marveled at how the sun filtered down through the trees, a shimmering tapestry of shadow and light on the road before him. He loved the cool air, the bird song in the morning. Basho enjoyed the beauty of the path as the wind animated the leaves, the road shimmering before him. Then something caught his eye. He bent down to investigate:

When I look carefully
I see the nazuna blooming
By the hedge!

It was as if the world had been lifted off his shoulders. It all seemed to come together -- the bedbugs, the porrige, the long road, his aching muscles, the widow and her children. The light seemed to break through into his consciousness -- all was well. His step lightened as he made his way to the widow's town.

Jesus walked this same road with his disciples. This road is the road of compassion. This road intimates eternity. When he saw his disciples, he remembered their worries, he had even shared in their concerns. He knew that they worried about feeding their families, about dressing their children. And when the crowds gathered he could almost feel the anxiety as it rose among the people. He knew that this is what it has always been - the worries in life. If he could just put their lives at ease. He could feel their worries as they compounded within his consciousness. He was walking with his disciples, listening to their troubles, aware of their worries. Then he saw some flowers along his path, then some birds in the air. In the beauty of the flowers in the smooth flight of the birds eternity broke through, God's presence became palpable. Yes, it was somthing you could feel. This was the teaching now. Why worry? All is well. Eternity enters in. The beauty of God visible, the love of God in the air. People need to know this, so he drew their attention to the flower: Consider the lilies of the field! Then he looked up at the sky: Look at the birds!

So, you and I walk this road. We carry our worries, often troubled in mind. And sometimes we notice the shimmer of the sun on the water of Spring Lake. Sometimes we notice the sound of the rain on the roof. Sometimes itis the flower by the hedge or the lilies in the field. The wonder is how life opens up how eternity breaks through sweeping up the worries that plague us, empowering us for compassionate action in the world. Jesus encouraged us in this. He said,

But strive first for the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.

Be Well,