“Voice of The Wind”
Part 3
A flash of vivid color, a whirl of wings in flight and he lands on the tall
strand of grass by the pond’s edge. Dark, dark and glossy as, well, as a Raven’s
wing! Only this bright one is no “cawing crow”. It is, in fact, one of my all
time favorite birds: The Red Winged Black bird. Perched now in one of their most
loved places: tall grass along side still water, he makes the afternoon “bright”
with his God-given loveliness! I remain still and “drink” in the picture. Dark
one where have you been today? Where will you rest when I’m safe in my bed
tonight? A moment only and he is gone! Graceful creature of God, I never knew
you! Flash! The moment is gone and I’ll see him no more: or seeing him will not
recognize him. It is just so that the panorama of life’s flowing colors passes
us by. We see but we cannot touch, cannot alter or affect the passing parade. We
can never really “know” the creatures that flow through our lives like water
through our fingers.
Ann was a beauty! I mean one of those girls that stop your heart when you first
see her! Without trying she turned every head in every room she ever entered.
She had hazel eyes that seem to see things beyond normal sight: she always left
me thinking she “knew” something I did not. Looking back I believe I always knew
things were “different” in her life, different in ways I could not, at the time,
fathom. She was a “majorette”, beauty queen and more: she seemed totally unaware
of her “status”. It was as if she was a caterpillar who never was aware of how
wonderful her butterfly wings really were! All the guys wanted to date her (me
too!) but I was just a friend. We never knew anything about her life “after
school”. She just appeared, on cue as it were, and then was gone, leaving a deep
desire to know more about her. I did learn that her home life was “bad”,
divorced parents, drinking, poverty and just possibility emotional abuse beyond
our understanding. She was always involved with guys who were older and beyond
the scope of our social circle. Fascinating creature, who are you after all?
High School days passed, as they always do, swiftly! I moved on to college and
lost touch with Ann. She did not attend school with those of us who went to our
“home town school” UNA (then Florence State), no one knew where she was or what
was going on with her. Sad to say, I “saw it in the paper”: Ann was found dead
of an apparently suicidal drug overdose, dead at 19! Graceful creature of God, I
never really knew you!
Touch the ones that pass you everyday with the love that Christ shares so freely
with us! Touch them before they “fly” away and are lost in the never ending
storms of life that devour the ugly and the beautiful! Love them in the moment
given tomorrow comes far too soon!
Reaching out in the love of Christ,
Chuck