the deepening ground

Autumn has burst on the scene with its varied invitations to deepen. In the midst of the full swing of a challenging school year, my son’s busy soccer schedule, and the general maintenance of cars, toilets, and lawns, I’ve still managed to stop to ponder the nuthatches feeding in the neighbor’s pine trees by the creek or to gaze into the ever-changing wonder of a campfire on a cool fall evening. These pause-worthy-moments present themselves regularly, yet the currents of life ever threaten to pull me down the river, far away from the things I value most.

For example, last year, we intentionally carved out time to celebrate The Feast of Tabernacles, eating most of our evening meals together in the backyard housed in our outdoor Clam shelter by the campfire. Somehow, we’ve only managed to get out twice this year. Even my birthday had to yield to the basic need to food shop at Costco and Fresh Thyme, albeit with my wife and two youngest sons, and a free brownie at Chick-fil-A due to multiple order mishaps. Sleep has become a precious commodity interrupted by seasonal colds and high blood pressure.

So when my daughter shared the following poem with me, first for my feedback and then as one of my birthday gifts, I knew I was being wooed into wonder, and I knew what I would be posting next on thedeepeningground. Ethney harnesses the power of the Shakespearean sonnet with some subtle surprises. For example, the second line of each quatrain boasts an extra syllable, which also just so happens to be the case with the final rhymed couplet. What might she be saying about the groove of life? Tonight, I invite you to hear the call of nature, inviting you to pause and then, perhaps, march to the beat of a different drummer.

Nature’s Invitation – Ethney R. I. Anastasi

As sure as the sea's tide doth shift and move,
So do the seasons ever alter and change.
In fall we once again enter work's groove,
A groove so familiar and yet so strange.
From one thing to another we hurry,
And never, it seems, to stop and, look around.
Rarely do we listen to nature's plea,
Instead we hasten to a different sound.
Nature's artist creates a scene sublime
Through whispering winds and vibrant changing leaves
That we may hear and see it anytime
And gaze upon the masterpiece it weaves.
       Throughout the seasons we are busy and rush
       Yet all of nature is calling us to hush.