Remember the “moon on the breast of the new fallen snow” from Monday night? A couple of hours into the snowfall my dogs start going crazy and my daughter told me to look out of the windrow. Prancing down the middle of the street in the “lustre of midday” was a coyote. You would have thought it was Lucifer, himself strolling down Dorchester Road. Front doors were slamming, garage doors closing shut and my phone was blowing up with texts and calls. “He’s out there! Look out!” No joke, the advice of the Birminham police was to “stay inside.” It is true that the coyote’s crimes are the stuff Urban Legends are made of. It’s said he eats cats for breakfast and more than one small dog has fallen victim to this predator. I, too am afraid for my three little dogs who after a few minutes lost interest and hopped back into the safety of my bed. I looked out the window again and this time all I could see was ….well one of God’s creatures. Strolling through the snow he didn’t look so fierce or evil. For this brief moment the Wile E. Coyote of Dorchester commanded the road. And he owned the moment. Don’t get me wrong, I will be glad when he moves on but he is after all just an animal who has lost his way. He is driven by instinct, confusion and hunger. I am reminded that God often calls us to places that frighten us to comfort those who have lost their way, those who sometimes do things out of desperation and confusion and sometimes, hunger. The truth is we all lose our way at one time or another. We do or say things that alienate us from the world. We all need a moment of compassion and of course the unending grace from a loving God. For tonight God calls me to simply see the beauty in his world, even in the parts that frighten me.
Grace and Peace ….snowy Peace at Advent
Myra