“If your eye is generous, your whole being is full of light!” Jesus

Just yesterday I posted about the acrobatic Chickadees at the feeder, and yesterday they were back, along with Titmice, Goldfinches, Nuthatches, Juncos, and Bluebirds, to continue their show around the back deck feeders. There is nothing more cheerful than a Chickadee. They are bold enough so my presence on the deck while they are feeding does not disturb them and it certainly seems as though nothing can get them down. Always busy. Always active and alert. Always poised and confident. Always, to all appearances, cheerful. 

With all that is going on in the world right now, I feed the need to channel the chickadee’s cheerfulness. In fact, I woke this morning full of hope…full of good cheer. I don’t know exactly why, but I am certainly thankful. My Day Poem yesterday was about the Woman’s March protests that took place all across the country, and, while I do not agree with some of the things espoused (Choice is much too complex and troubling an issue to put up on a placard), I did and do appreciate the energy…the “pro” in protest, and the testimony to good will and generosity that the movement exemplifies. 

If I were to make a protest sign it would be something like this.

I choose life
(and life for all that lives)
I choose hope
(hope that carries us all toward good)
I choose joy
(in service to my fellows and all that lives)
I choose love

While that might be a bit heavy, philosophically, for a chickadee to carry, it is what I imagine the chickadee’s sign might also say. It is a cheerful message. Poised and confident. It is a “pro” message, not an anti message, and is, therefore, right in the spirit of true protest. 

I woke with that sign, if not in my hand, at least in my heart and mind. I woke to the realization that no one can take my faith in life, my hope, my joy, or my love. They are my creator’s gift to me, knit into my bones, renewed by faith in Jesus Christ.  And I woke to realize that, no matter what they had on their signs, there are a whole lot of other people in this country and this world who share that generosity of spirit (whether they share my faith or not) and that generosity can not, and will not, be put down. My hope for the next four years is that the movement that embraces Bernie Sanders Revolution, Occupy,  the Woman’s March, the Obama legacy, and so much more, will find a clear voice…a pro voice, never an anti voice…that affirms life, hope, joy, and love. If that comes to pass, then what people will remember about the next four years is not Trump and his silver spoon henchmen, but the way people of good will rose up to take our country, and our lives, back. 

And it begins with the cheerfulness of the Chickadee. Happy Sunday!