Small Gifts

[Used with permission from "Caught Up in God."]

If you are like me, there are some days when, without intending to, you move through the day in a whirl, or in a stupor, or dragging in sadness, or simply preoccupied. On those days we may miss the small but precious gifts we are given.

One afternoon, distracted and a bit discouraged, I went outside and walked around the courtyard behind our house. As I walked I saw, floating through the air, a small seed surrounded by tendrils. I don’t know what kind of seed it was, but it was beautiful, and I reached out my hand toward it.

What amazed me was that it stayed with me. Perhaps there was a very fine tendril clinging to my finger.

 

 But it even changed hands at one point.

 

Taking photos was not easy. I had my cell phone with me, but getting a picture meant holding the phone in only one hand, tapping, adjusting, and snapping the camera with the same hand,  all the while not disturbing the beautiful seed hovering at my other hand.

After a while I blew on it gently and off it flew, only to settle gently toward the ground behind the nearby bushes.

The presence of the seed felt like a gift, just when I needed one. I wonder sometimes if it has sprouted.