matcha with me…

「読書の秋、食欲の秋、スポーツの秋」

Autumn is for Reading, Eating, and Sports. The first fall I was here, the above phrase caught my attention. Perhaps it grabbed me since fall, books, and food have always been favorites. I don’t do much with sports these days, though memories of horseback riding through the falling leaves or a long run chasing the autumn wind along a scenic road still thrill me. In my free time this fall I’ve been doing a lot of reading, less eating, and some walking. Here’s a poem which willed itself to be noticed, much like a perfect chestnut half hidden in the leaves underfoot.

Harvest of God

by Macrina Wiederkehr

It was only a small wind,

Rather gentle, like a breeze.

It blew a strand of hair across my forehead

And I knew it was God.

I was awakened by a tiny gleam of light

It slipped through my curtain, onto my face.

It drew me to my feet and on to the window

Drawing back the curtains

Dawn stepped softly into my room.

I knew that it was God.

In the middle of my loneliness

The phone rang.

A voice I knew so well, said

“Hello, I love you.”

Love stirred in my soul

I knew that it was God.

Rain fell gently on thirsty ground.

Slowly, carefully, steadily it came

To an earth parched with waiting.

Through those raindrops

I walked, unafraid – without an umbrella.

I knew that it was God.

It was only a little bitterness I thought

But it wouldn’t leave my heart.

It hung around my soul for ages

Until a storm came, violent and terrifying.

It shook me to the depths of my being

And blew all the bitterness away.

I knew that it was God

It was only a Silver Maple

But in the morning’s sunlight

It was filled with heaven.

I stood in a trance

As one touched by angel wings.

I knew that it was God.

O God, I cried, Endearing One,

I love you! You cannot hide from me.

Between the cracks of daily life

I find you waiting

To be adored.

You slip into my life

Like night and day

Like stars and sunshine.

I know that you are God.