I’m sitting in the swing listening to the breezes’ wind chime symphonies mingled with squirrels scolding songbirds, who are loudly heralding the coming spring. Adding percussion to the concert is a large pileated woodpecker playing the limb drums high in the old water oak. Feels like summer heat when the sunshine’s rays make it to the porch swing to rest on my bare feet. Ever hear someone say, “That gives me the heebie-jeebies?” Well, there is a bird high up in the magnolia across the street yelling out, “heebie-jeebie, heebie-jeebie!” Can’t imagine what’s gotten the bird stirred up. There’s no cats around. They are all napping in a food coma on the porch. Penelope is sleeping, too.

When I left the porch to come in for supper Mother Nature had just begun painting the pageant of sunset, her watercolors blushing the horizon in a beautiful champagne pink. The darkness is chasing twilight across the landscape now waking the night swiftly as the moon and stars gather in place. Day is done and night has begun. George Bancroft describes twilight “like a breath of beauty upon the cheek of the earth.” I can see and feel that breath and beauty tonight. It’s been a glorious day. And I’ve spent most of it perched in the porch swing.

Came across this verse of scripture in my reading today. “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth,” Mathew 5:5. This verse is the third of Jesus’ Beatitudes, eight blessings that promise those who are humble and gentle and “exhibit strength under control rather than aggressive self-assertion” will receive God’s kingdom. I was trying to figure out the difference in being meek and being humble. Joyce Meyers writes, “Meekness is not weakness, it’s strength under control.” If we are meek we are quiet and gentle. If we are humble the dictionary reads, we “have or show a modest estimate of our value.” If we’re humble we are not arrogant or self-important. When we’re humble in our faith we believe and trust God is walking with us through the darkness even when we can’t see him. Harvey Penick writes, “Be brave if you lose and meek if you win.” When we’re meek we make a conscious choice to show kindness and love even when we’re provoked. “Humility is a grace of the soul that cannot be expressed in words and is only known by experience,” Goodreads.

Heard two sentences yesterday that really caused me to do some deep pondering. The first sentence I wrote down, I heard on a movie. “Life’s a big stinking mess but that’s the beauty of it.” Okay, I agree that life can be a stinking mess. So what clarifies as a mess in life? We all have chaotic and difficult times in our lives but we have the choice to decide if “our mess” is acceptable or if we need to metaphorically clean it up. Tough times make us stronger. God wants us to look for the message in our mess. We all have different paths in our lives but we get to choose the direction we go. When we choose God’s path the sun shines on us and life is beautiful. When a storm comes, life can be bleak, but another day cycles and given time, God will send sunshine and his holy light will again brighten the day. God walks beside us always and guides us through the dark dilemmas in our life. Life is really simple. It’s not complicated but we make it that way sometimes with our choices. “The beauty of life revolves around the imperfection of it,” Zinny Ekechukwu. That’s the beauty of life — each day is a gift. And every day we get to start with a fresh slate, a new beginning on this beautiful earth. Don’t waste God’s gift of a new day.

The second quote that caused me to do some thinking was “we all sacrifice for the people we love.” That’s a powerful statement. Can’t help but think about all the sacrifices we all made for our families and friends during Covid. Our families’ lives were turned upside down and we all coped with life as best we could. I don’t think we sacrifice for the people we love. We need to change the word sacrifice to “give selflessly.” We all give selflessly for the people we love. If you love with a true heart you are more concerned with the needs and wishes of those you love than with your own. True love is total acceptance of the ones you love. You don’t try to mold them or change them, you love them for themselves, just the way they are. I think God loves us as we are, too.

We’ve all heard this phrase a thousand times — “Life is too short, so live it to the fullest.” As I approach my 70th birthday on April 1, I realize how fast life really does pass. Life is full of sadness, life is full of surprises, and life is full of beauty and truth. Every moment of life is precious. “Life is not always perfect. Like a road, it has many bends, ups and down, but that’s its beauty,” Amit Ray. Tomorrow is never promised and yesterday is gone forever. We need to appreciate every day and live it to the fullest. Surround yourself with people who make you smile and make you laugh. Do what makes you happy. And love as long as you live.

Exquisite beauty is often hidden in life’s fragile, fleeting moments.”― John Mark Green