Imbolc Gratitude, Cardinal Call.

I am grateful for the loud and rhythmic call of the Cardinal sitting atop a telephone poll, piecing red against the blue blue morning sky. His call is tantalizing, exciting to every cell within my body. I have noticed that within the depths of winter, while he is still present within the frozen woodlands, his call is not.

The Sun is returning. The Cardinal sings again.

I am grateful for the wellness of my family, for the roof above us, the food being preserved in jars on shelves, in our refrigerator, and in our recently cleaned and organized cabinets.

I am grateful for the love and well wishes of our ancestors, for the purpose and trust we are cultivating like an orchid, watching her petals unfold each day, protecting her from own desires to rush and control the process of blooming, of becoming, of remembering.

I am grateful for my canine companion and the wet socks which follow our wrestling matches in ankle deep white snow, blood pumping, eyes glimmering, silliness and play expressed and sent up and out into this oh so serious world.

I am grateful for the sap of maples, pulsing now, ready to make the vertical passage upward, enlivening the world with renewed energy and messages from the deep.

I am grateful for the kindness of strangers, the resilience of the human spirit, the stillness chosen in the midst of chaos.

I am grateful for you, dear human, and the forces which hold you. I am grateful for your beautiful eyes, pumping heart, firing neurons, whole and infinite soul.

You are beautiful.

I feel gratitude and give thanks to the increase of flying insects within our home, observed as the days lengthen and the strength of the sacred sun increases day by day by day. I feel it on my chest and face now as I write, coming through the window on this bright day, still well below freezing yet alive with the call of Cardinal and the dripping of icicles which hang from our neighbors roof, catching the light ever so effortlessly.

I am grateful for the rushing of rivers and the pulsing of tides, the changing of winds and the softness of owl feathers.

I am grateful for the bears, dreaming and breathing in warm dens tucked into mountainsides and underneath decaying log caverns. They feel the shifting, the emergence of Brigid not too far off.

I am grateful for the waters, and the intelligence of rainforests and glaciers held within our human bodies.

I am grateful for the devotion of Mothers.

I am grateful for my inner vision, the dust being cleared away from within my mind’s eye, the daily and moment to moment opportunities to trust, to stay here, holding the prayer, falling apart and being remade by a more well way of relating.

I am grateful for the resistance that is reclamation, remembrance, and wonder.

I am grateful for the confronting and ever deepening process of the relinquishing of guilt and shame, the liberation found underneath the chronic fear, the doorway to a new paradigm still held open, even if only cracked, never closed, no matter the chatter.

I am grateful for sardines and sauerkraut, mayonnaise and slightly burnt walnuts eaten while the baby sleeps, this writing carried out with a calm urgency as the tastes of lunch fade.

Welcome returning Sun.

Welcome Cardinal call.

I am in awe of the turning of the wheel, and feel brought to my knees in gratitude for the gift of experiencing yet another Spring, another seasonal turning upon this dynamic and sacred planet.

We are here together, you and I.

May I feel and fully express my gratitude as I remember what is really going on here.

May I learn to praise well each day, so that my grief may flow undamned and I may remember how to be whole and well here, held within this Earth.

Welcome Imbolc Time. I am here with you.