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Mercy

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Let each day be lived as an "altar" to LIFE.     ?      One of the first thoughts upon waking this morning.   I am wondering what it could mean.   

and then,  just after dawn turned into day,   i heard that unmistakable call of a Goat in distress.    Through the window i could see that they were all up here as usual…where they wait for the morning hay,  all staring at something and going out i saw a Goat on her side….legs sticking straight out as they do…..it was Mercy.  She was on the incline,  back and head on the downside.   I don't want to go into detail,  there's no point,  but i was able to "right" her and she stood,  caught her balance and began moving.  Two steps at a time,  two steps until she got where she wanted to go which was under the table out there where she likes to wait for her daily Zinc gummy which she loves.   and she just stood.    I sat a few minutes but came back in to finish my tea.    and i thought of that sentence as i prepared myself for the worst.   She was still just standing there when i went out sometime later to feed.   And as i finished throwing the hay,  i saw that she had come down…was standing at the periphery of all of them  but there..it's a long walk.    She has health issues.   She's i think 9 years,  10?   not young.  None of them are except for the two wether boys.   and again,  with long standing health issues.      But she carried on with her day.   Had it not been for those moments   in the morning,  i would not have thought anything was out of the ordinary.   I am grateful that i had fair warning of things changing for her.  What ever happens now will be more gentle because of this.   She is the one of them that i think of as "my" Goat.  I love her.  So i thought all day about that morning sentence….Let each day be lived as an altar to Life…thought how this will become a part of that,   whatever it might mean.

 

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6 responses to “Mercy”

  1. Marti Avatar
    Marti

    Gentle Mercy,the herd, family, frail at times yet strong in holding together.
    Thought about this letting each day be lived as an altar to life and I thought about radical acceptance: For me, based on this past year, it takes a deep going down into the marrow, to do just that sometimes…to live each day as an altar to life. Yet the more I thought about this, the more I came to understand, realize, that this is. in a way, how I have lived my life, for so many years. Getting up each day, my rituals of blessing the day, paying homage to the daily sacred ordinaries of life, sometimes with intended purpose, other times, flowing with the day.
    Yet there are times, when unforeseen events occur, events over which there is little control and in those times, finding the sacred and the life altar is hard and radical acceptance not even a consideration; for in those times, you want to have some control, you question and ask and research and stand up to what you are being told, if you have doubts.You simply take it on, until the time comes, when things begin to shift and you begin to have some understanding of this new life reality. You make your peace with what is and live each day, as it comes.
    Deep down you understand that life continues in all of its imperfect, giving, knowing and not so knowing ways and you go on and accept this oh so simple fact, that you CAN and DO go on. You go on to a different tempo, perhaps, but you do go on. and the daily dance of life flows into the ever going acknowledgement of the sacred in your altar of life.

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  2. grace Forrest Avatar
    grace Forrest

    it’s still dark Out the window…the vaguest hint of day as i read your thoughts here and i think how lucky i am to have them…that i open this magic screen and here you are
    i can hear your voice….speaking
    What a miracle is that!, really….what a miracle is that.
    i’ll come back through the day and sit with your thoughts
    here off and on…there’s what the words are, and then
    there’s what sense of things they bring
    and what i begin with is…making peace with what is.
    Making peace with what is
    and…somehow that flowers out into what all it can be,,,
    Love and Love to you, Marti

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  3. Marti Avatar
    Marti

    The words come because you present a day in the life of, you ask the questions that are thought but not often given the light of day, for, well many reasons. To bare our souls, open our hearts, speak our minds takes a lot sometimes…in asking your questions, you open my life to examination and it is good. For me, it is also important. We have known each other for many, many years and you know, that I will always come to give my thoughts, my words, my stories because this is how we go thorough life, side by side, distance, miles, no obstacle to sharing.Your “door” querida, is always open, and I,as well as many others, cross the welcome mat and enter…

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  4. jude Avatar
    jude

    she has beautiful eyes.

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  5. grace Forrest Avatar
    grace Forrest

    and her smile
    a crescent moon on her forehead

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  6. Laura Rylander Avatar
    Laura Rylander

    I wish the best gentleness for Mercy. She’s so beautiful.

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