What is serious to men is often trivial in the sight of God. What in
God might appear to us as “play” is perhaps what He Himself takes most
seriously. At any rate, the Lord plays and diverts himself in the
garden of His creation, and if we could let go of our own obsession with
what we think is the meaning of it all, we might be able to hear His
call and follow Him in His mysterious, cosmic dance. . . . we are invited to forget ourselves on purpose, cast our awful solemnity to the winds, and join in the general dance.” – Thomas Merton in New Seeds of Contemplation
“I will become even more undignified than this.” – King David regarding his dancing half-naked in the streets (2 Samuel 6:22).
You ride in
large loops circling
the L-shaped
curve of the driveway.
Perched on
your tall, blue bike,
it’s pedal,
pedal, pedal, coast and turn
in that
small space under the Indian-summer
sky. There’s a kitten zipped into your hoodie,
black face
and whiskers peaking out as you
pedal,
pedal, pedal, coast and turn.
Right there,
between the green grass
and ceiling
of blue, you feel the freedom
and joy that
has been missing for too long.
Not only do
you feel it but, for once,
you value
it, holding it as a prize,
a pearl of
great price. The Day Care parents
come and go
next door, moving from work
to work and
you – soaring under the golden
sky, the
soft fur of a sweet being warm
against your
chest – you don’t care who sees.
Laura Boggess’ new book Playdates with God: Hvaing a Childlike Faith in a Grownup World was released this week. Are you ready to meet God with the heart of a child? Visit her blog where she is blogging 31 Days of Playdates for the month of October.
This is our other kitten, all zipped up happy and snug in my hoodie while I work on cooking dinner. The other night she sat on my shoulder for a long time watching me peel potatoes. The joy of kittens is restoring, for me, some of the joy of my childhood and for that I’m deeply grateful.
What a sweet little kitty and picture. thank you for sharing it.
Thanks, she's a darling. My daughter named her "Perfect" and it suits her to a T.
Kelly, I can't describe the joy I feel reading this beautiful poem. That is the gift of poetry, isn't it? Lovely and thank you.
Thanks Laura. Let's get that playdates retreat thing in the work, we need a chance to play together!
I'm so glad you shared this, Kelly. Brava!
Thanks so much for stopping by to read, Sheila.
Love it, love it, love it. More, please. I'm so glad you're making space for play, dear Kelly. We all need it – we're designed for play a swell as work and sometimes we get it so unbalanced, don't we??
This is where my children lead me, Diana, and I'm learning (slowly!) to follow them. Their eyes were bugging out at the sight of their crazy mama looping around the driveway and I may not have given the best example of appropriate kitten-handling, but I sure was happy and free. So good to see you here.
Kelly, your poem painted a picture for me…but the photo of you and the kitten did me in. Just overwhelmed at God's grace and love for you, for us. Thank you for this.
Thanks Jodie. I'm grateful too, so very. Moments like these are worth so much more than I've realized in the past.
Kelly,
Oh, the photo of you and the kitten cuddled up close to you…what a picture of grace and love 🙂