A Christmas Visit

He opened the door one frosty evening and they flew in, small unexpected guests, the kind you feel honored to host. Perhaps they had been taking shelter in the Christmas wreath and were startled as the door shook them from sleep. They entered with quite a bit of confidence and flew about the house taking shelter in our Christmas tree for a time. We opened the doors and windows hoping they’d find their way to freedom. A cool December breeze filled the house as we ate our dinner. It seemed a lovely combination of life-domestic and wild, inside and outside, free and captive.

After some time, I thought I saw one or both fly out the front door, so we closed up for the night and went to bed hoping these little visitors had made their way home. The night was quiet but the very moment the sun began to peak over the horizon, I heard a song, perhaps a Christmas carol, coming from the inner branches of our Christmas tree. The small wren had spent the night among the branches and as morning broke, she began her freedom song. In moments she flew out the open window to find her mate and spend the holiday among the pines.

I often wonder what bit of life is held in each little being - the tiny beetle, the winter moth, the songbird, the gray squirrel, and how each pull and struggle towards life, towards survival. How the ant keeps climbing from the sink drain against the current of water. Do we share that same life force energy? Living day to day the best we can, seeing the miracle of life even within the struggle? Pulling towards life, filling each breath of a new day and unraveling the wisdom often gained from the challenge. Do we feel our connection to all of life, each bit of life, each creature under one sky?

That will be my Christmas wish for the world – to see and feel our interconnectedness, to know no matter our race, ethnicity, religion, color, creed, no matter who we love or what we love, no matter if we walk, or fly or burrow or scamper- we indeed are all one- we all share that same life force energy, we all sleep under the same stars, share the warmth of the same sun and gaze up at the same silver moon.

I felt blessed that our Christmas tree was home to one small Carolina Wren, if only for just one night. An angelic reminder of the members of my extended family, a peaceful feeling of belonging to a grand and glorious world of miracles.

For whatever holiday you might celebrate I wish you all the joy and peace a heart can hold – I just know, we’ll all be seated around the same table.