Unexpected

This holiday season, I am not looking at the decorations on the houses in my neighborhood. I am looking beyond them to the trees and woods, to the sky and birds, I need the transcendence of nature.

Maybe it will be a sparkling, crystalline dawn

            with the rays of the rising sun glinting off ice-covered trees.

Maybe a herd of deer will meander down my street at midnight,

            with no one but me seeing them.

Maybe a cardinal will sit stoically on a branch

            as snow drifts down and collects on his back.

These I have seen in past years; they won’t likely be repeated. But I won’t know what the transcendent will be this year until it appears in the corner of my eye and surprises me. I can’t make awe happen. I can only stay alert and wait.

I am watching for that one unexpected image that will shake up my imagination and make my heart skip a beat. And when it arrives, I want to stay focused on it. I want it to envelope me with its mystery crenelled with wonder. It is a privilege to see this. I don’t want to hurry on looking for the next surprise. I want to let whatever this is settle deep within, crack open a window into a world I barely know, wrap me in its arms, and overwhelm me.

This watching for, and the expectation of, is the season’s gift.