It's a girl!

It's a girl!
We're not even sure what her name is yet, but since our dog is named Petey (also a girl), we're thinking about going with a little rascals theme and calling her Darla, or Alfalfa, or Buckwheat...
What is it about us humans that we crave the companionship of other animals, inviting their mess and upheaval with such joy and terror simultaneously? The two animals greeted each other with hissing terror and they are also wondering what we humans are up to. By introducing another animal into this household, the familiar balance has been completely upset. One can not predict on this first day, just how long it will take to settle into a new routine. But the invitation, welcome and transition are all part of life for us, as is the terror, anger and self-protection that come along with introducing a new character into our long running play.

I've been think a great deal about transitions, and home endemic they are to human existence and how we resist them mightily with all the force we can muster. One Easter, when we were first married, we visited my parents for Easter arriving on Saturday. We were horrified to realize that my mother, in her Easter basket preparations has failed to get Peeps. It was after dinner when this realization hit, and we spent several mad hours driving from store to store, just to find some Peeps. We had always had them for Easter. As ridiculous as that caper was, and we did enjoy the adventure, it also stands as an illustration for me about transitions and change. We are constantly in flux, and yet we crave routine and constancy. The world spins and rotates and yet we wish it to stop. We want control and constancy in a life that is anything but.

The only response to transitions that has ever worked for me, is to ratchet up the tenderness, and invite new life. Hanging on, and trying to ride the broken down metaphors and idols, just won't work. Trying to control and fix it has never worked for me either. Wrapping my arms around this little new life, and letting her remake me, tenderly remake us together, has been the only way I know to walk through the changes and transitions in life. We are here, we say to each other, not where we were before. You're scared, and I'm scared. Let's hold each other and watch the world change us, and around us. Somehow we will make it if we realize we are not alone.

May we all this day, be reminded that we are engaged in transitions today, both major and minor. Try tenderness and relationship when the fear rises up in your throat and threatens to choke off the goodness in life. God dwells in relationship and kindness, in the shared journey of people spinning with this planet. God is in the dark of night with us, along with the gentle, tender breezes of the day. Welcome the transition and know that God and new life is there in the midst of it with you. You are never alone.