community is a strange bird and family an odd duck. one moment she holds you close and whispers sweet somethings in your flushed ears and the next your at arms length on the wrong end of a tongue wagging. we are fickle fickle folk. some like it hot, some like it cold. many swing left and others veer right. everyone’s got an opinion. what holds a flock together? how is it that we manage to stay we and not me, he and she? what keeps things us and not them?
relationship. choosing the to see the best in the other. granting grace to be different. also grace given to change or perhaps even to stay the same. there’s a piece of marital advice that says “you can be married or you can be right”. any given sunday and days in between, the good ship next seeks to navigate these tricky seas. there are times when we sail in deep waters, all hands on deck, sails full and trimmed. this is when care and sensitivity, honesty and integrity carry the day. there have been times, oh there have been times when one opinion steamrolls all others. when his view is the best view, her account is the only account. such self-centered rocks threaten the love boat on a regular basis. mutinies and pirate talk may bound.
there, but for the grace of God go we.
for all the tension, there’s a whole lot of beauty. yes – i belong here. these are my people. my family. my community. my tribe and my kin. i’m with you, you nutty bird!
that’s all i got for the moment…
(two birds with their boys)
All this talk of birds brings back fond memories of the Falcon days. Ahh, the good old Blazing days.
The talk of birds brings back memories of when I kept a wounded pidgeon in my bathroom.
the whole bird thing was pretty much a metaphor but thanks for your thoughtful responses! the falcons was a great joke that still makes me chuckle. too bad we couldn’t keep ourselves organized. the blazing falcons – a wounded pigeon even aphra couldn’t revive.