...And Love Is All There Is
I heard the bird again last night - calling out through the blackness that encompasses one in the middle of the night. No one answered him – not another single bird responded, and it was with mixed feelings that I listened to his call.
On one hand, it was a pleasure to hear the song in the night. It imparted a feeling that someone else was there. But, on the other hand, there was a touch of loneliness about it all – like maybe no one else was there after all, and that I was alone in the black void of the night …just the solitary bird and me. That is, until I looked beyond the tree top from where the doleful cry was shattering the stillness and saw them – the stars, friendly faces on the black background of forever, winking at me as if they knew what I was thinking - and the faint sliver of the moon - smiling down, watching me out of the corner of its eye as it communed with the bird - sharing the secrets of the universe that only nature can know. Then the loneliness vanished as quickly as it had arrived, flitting away on the wings of the song.
“What?” I wondered was all this about – these mixed emotions – where did I fit into all of this from my vantage point? …the stars and the moon from where I stood, rooted to my spot in the backyard, seemed to be unreachable …the realization that I am just a tiny particle of dust in the vastness of the universe …more than that – that the earth itself is just a speck in the black void of the night proffered a sensation of separateness. And yet somehow I understood that I am a part of something so vast – so expansive - that I can reach out and touch the stars and the moon, because everything and everyone is one all-encompassing whole.
In reality, I am the twinkle in the star. I am the silver sliver of the moon. I am the song of the solitary bird wafting through the darkness of the night. I am the dawn of the morning light peaking over the eastern horizon. I am the sigh of the universal whole because I am the love of God incarnate and love is all there is.
…and love is all there is.
©2006 Ilene Madrigal
On one hand, it was a pleasure to hear the song in the night. It imparted a feeling that someone else was there. But, on the other hand, there was a touch of loneliness about it all – like maybe no one else was there after all, and that I was alone in the black void of the night …just the solitary bird and me. That is, until I looked beyond the tree top from where the doleful cry was shattering the stillness and saw them – the stars, friendly faces on the black background of forever, winking at me as if they knew what I was thinking - and the faint sliver of the moon - smiling down, watching me out of the corner of its eye as it communed with the bird - sharing the secrets of the universe that only nature can know. Then the loneliness vanished as quickly as it had arrived, flitting away on the wings of the song.
“What?” I wondered was all this about – these mixed emotions – where did I fit into all of this from my vantage point? …the stars and the moon from where I stood, rooted to my spot in the backyard, seemed to be unreachable …the realization that I am just a tiny particle of dust in the vastness of the universe …more than that – that the earth itself is just a speck in the black void of the night proffered a sensation of separateness. And yet somehow I understood that I am a part of something so vast – so expansive - that I can reach out and touch the stars and the moon, because everything and everyone is one all-encompassing whole.
In reality, I am the twinkle in the star. I am the silver sliver of the moon. I am the song of the solitary bird wafting through the darkness of the night. I am the dawn of the morning light peaking over the eastern horizon. I am the sigh of the universal whole because I am the love of God incarnate and love is all there is.
…and love is all there is.
©2006 Ilene Madrigal

