The value of today

It’s another beautiful early fall blue-sky day.  A pile of work awaits my attention even though the dishes have been washed and everyone has left for their respective jobs.  

The goldenrod beckons my hand to pick a bunch for the table as the phone rings..

I’m on the other line. 

It’s Mom.  

She has called to tell me that her friend’s husband just died.  He wasn’t well, but that doesn’t matter for now he is treading a path where he shall never be seen again by his loving wife or family in some heavenly place  (if such a place exists).  We’re taught that it does, but where’s the proof? 

What if we’re living in heaven today?  What if we are supposed to behold the grandeur of creation in a ladybug walking on a squash vine, a duck swimming gracefully atop the water of a mirror-like pond, or a warming beam of sunlight?

What if everyone we met were someone special – someone to be valued and cherished the way a great Maker might see him or her, someone who recognized the greatness they were meant to reflect in their being every moment in time?

Taking a closer look

Outside my kitchen window, an orbed weaver built a web bigger than a dinner plate at an angle to the house which made it invisible indoors, and to the careless gnat, invisible outdoors as well.

Late afternoon sunlight glinted off its silvery strands as if to beckon an unwitting dinner guest to his final resting place.  Tiny bodies clung to its skimpy ropes, but there was room for more. 

I felt sorry for the helpless insects, even though I knew the spider deserved to eat.  Why did the natural world have to be so harsh?  

Intrinsic motivation

Does a chickadee mother tell her fledging that he’s a good flyer or does he simply soar because it is a natural for him?  I thought about this on my morning walk as I had just spoken to my brother about our mother, a woman who we always tried to please but to little accord.  Mom didn’t give compliments.  It wasn’t part her make up to say, “good job.”  Whether this is good or bad, this is how things were and continue to be. 

Consequently, my brother and I have been motivated to make ourselves happy – working hard to accomplish what we’d like to get done in our lives and not looking for the approval for others to keep us going. 

While I like to believe humans as well as other animals encourage their young, I realize some parents aren’t around – like turtles.  When a turtle hatches from her egg, she is on her own.  There is no celebration or loving care, just a treacherous journey back to water.  Does this make the turtle a more motivated individual or a soul deprived of love? 

How does humanity nurture the development of individuals intrinsically motivated to better to the world?