Love: A Lone Crow and Wild Turkeys

During the past three weeks I have been giving considerable thought to the healing power of Love. Several weeks ago I bought a book many of you might be familiar with. It's titled, quite simply, The Power. It's a companion book to The Secret, the secret being not so secret, as it is about Source and the infinite supply we all have, without measure, of all that we need.  The Power is dedicated to the subject of Love, in all its manifestations, and how it meets our every need. Love, being divine Love, as expressed in and through us, has given me much food for thought.

I have not always followed my own principles regarding the expression of Love. I have fallen far short at times. I decided to examine my own shortcomings through a bit of retrospection and introspection, and to make a practice of doing better, to practice what I preach more consistently. During this brief hiatus, I've been having fun in my own backyard. And more than fun, it has been illuminating.

While on a walk yesterday, under a blue-blue sky and with fresh snow under my feet (I love how the blue sky is reflected in the snow), I opened my thought to how I might express love without hesitation and exception. I had to start with myself, the only place anything ever truly starts. I opened my thought and my mouth, speaking out loud how much I love my Life, my Perfect Self, the Self that God, divine Love knows, without condition or judgment. Then I went on to express out loud my love for all my friends, including any that appear to be lost to the past; I spoke of my love for my family, every member, without exception. I continued along these lines as I walked. As I did so, a lone crow sailed across the road, just above the treetops in front of me. I spoke to it, saying hello and thanking it for the gift of its presence. It flew a short distance, then banked to the right, flying back to me, almost appearing to pause in greeting as it approached me, completing a circle as it flew. It did this one more time, flying a short distance, then banking to the right, briefly hovering before completing another circle overhead, then sailing on, across that deep blue ocean of sky.

If you have been reading my writings for any time, you have probably noticed that I believe we receive signs everywhere, once we become alert to them. Signs from nature are among my favorites. This certainly seems to be a nice affirmation for the direction my thoughts have taken.

I received another nice "sign" this morning. I had just sent an email to someone expressing my thoughts about the healing power of love, when I walked down the hall and into the kitchen. There, under the bird feeder, were four wild turkeys. They are probably the same turkeys that visited me this past summer. I took a photo of them from inside, but could not resist the desire to photograph them outside. I walked around the corner of the house and managed to snap off a few photos as they moved back toward the little patch of woods they had taken refuge in this summer. I cannot explain it, but those turkeys felt like Love itself to me. Another gift of Love's ever-presence, expressed through nature.

Someday when men have conquered the winds, the waves, the tides and gravity, we will harness for God the energies of love, and then, for a second time in the history of the world, man will have discovered fire.

~ Pierre Teilhard de Chardin



The photographs are mine.