july 18 2006

God in the stillness, in the silence. Last night as the sun was going down and there was a distance rolling roaring sound of thunder, I sat under a tree in stillness. I sat there for a long, patient time maybe 20 or 30 minutes. I do not know for sure. I did not count the time. The evening cycadas were beginning there rhythms, the lake was still and there was no one walking near where I sat.

I was near the footbridge seated below a tree coated in vines. On the top of the stump about 8 feet high and about 20 feet away was the red hawk. There are a pair that I have taken photos of for several years. The glen is where I see this particular hawk many times at nightfall.

It is amazing that with time now the hawk has allowed me to sit or even stand closer than I could to it before. The hawk, he or she, has become more at ease with me my distance that I can comfortably come is closer. I just sat and admired the beauty of this majesty creature. The shrill call that was only to small birds twice when they flew too close. The gestures of the eyes, the head the wings all a part of a special hawk language. The incredible sense that this beautiful creature knows me somehow in its own way to allow me to sit with it closer than I could when I had first seen it.

The evening is over but the joy of sitting with God's creatures in the stillness still remains with me this morning. The blessing of knowing the ways of nature and being able to sit with it alone in stillness is a gift of great value.