Sky Vision

This is my sister, Ruth, and her daughter, Hannah.

And this is my sister Debbie, her son, Caleb, and our own Princess Groovy Chick.

I have five siblings altogether--three older brothers to go along with my two little sisters. (In other words, Mom and Dad had six kids in ten years! And remained sane! And happy!)

Both of my sisters are writers. Debbie (the youngest of the family) is breezy and funny and quirky. If she happens to send a birthday card to one of my children without one of her memorable notes in it, they will call her to let her know that they were cheated and they will not let her rest until they get their official Aunt Debbie Note!

However, she can also write "beyond breezy." She and her pastor husband Randy, have collaborated on several devotional pieces that have been published. And when she and I wrote our dad's obituary together back in August, I was newly amazed at her flair for language with all its nuances.

Our sister Ruth is a different sort of writer altogether, a woman who says unexpected things in unexpected ways. She flips a phrase around and makes you see things in ways you may have never seen them before.

And Ruth is also a writer who writes.She sits in her little country farm house in rural Wisconsin and pours her words out on paper, completely unconcerned as to whether or not anyone will ever read them.

But I believe her words need to be read.

And so every once in a while, I'm going to feature one of Ruth's writings. I mean, what good is it to have a blog if not to share thoughts and words with the world!

So here is the first piece written by Ruth. Comment on it. Enjoy it. And take the words to heart.

SKY VISION

Twilight is near and the air is still and hushed. A few birds are winging by, intent on settling away for the long night ahead. They are seeking a place of protection and privacy. Simply, rest.

I stand and watch the birds and the sky, both of them competing for my eyes. Do the birds see it, too? The sky? The colors floating delicately there in the west? Do they notice or care about the great stage that is set above earth's darkening horizon? See it as I do? Really see and take pleasure in some hurried, even careless way?

I want to believe that they do.

As they ruffle about on some secluded branch, checking feather tips and curled claws and beaks, perhaps they pause to appreciate the melting mauve streaks, glowing trails of scarlet, and faint wisps of teal spreading far out before them, mixing seamlessly with that endless hue of ageless blue.

Living as they do, constantly racing in the sky, diving and twisting, experts at maneuvering any tricky type of air wave, maybe they are the only ones who really know the true colors up there. They are the only ones who live in air and atmosphere; rain and sleet; dew and snow; mist and cloud.

Seeing every dust particle, like a cat in the dark, the detailed depths of relative space belongs to them, familiar as the back of their own tail feathers. They sense the tiniest change in every wind current and welcome the moist evening vapors clinging gently to their delicate bodies.

So I keep wondering....

Can a superb sunset enter their perception and bestow a kind of peace and blessing on the remains of their day, just as it does on mine? Does it ever enter the mind of a common sparrow to appreciate incredible form and beauty, thrown abroad for all to view? For all to be enthralled with... if only for a moment?

Yes, I believe it's possible. I believe that any eye can behold this rich splendor of vivid color. Here and now, even forever.

Open your eyes, along with the bird.

See the sky.

Sing for joy.

Ruth C. Rehberg © 2010
April 19, 2005