Aha!

Moments ago I was sitting out on the deck, reading Love Poems from God, a collection of poetry by Rumi, Hafiz, St. Francis of Assisi, St. Thomas Aquinas, when my Japanese neighbor, Madori, called over to me. She is wonderful and sweet--we've found our way through several conversations, gesturing and finding words we can share to make ourselves understood. Our interactions are always filled with smiles and laughter and those moments of Aha! when we realize we have found the right words to connect. Today her musical voice lifted my attention from my book and I looked over and smiled. Seeing that she wanted to ask me something, I got up from my chair and walked over to her yard. She reached for the words: "You like your book?"

I smiled and said yes and explained that each morning I come out with a cup of coffee, and read and write in my journal.

"What do you read?" she asked.

"Books about faith," I said. Her eyebrows drew together as she tried to decipher what I meant.

"Books about God," I said, trying again.

"Oh!" she exclaimed, smiling. "Yes!"

God, I just wanted to say how nice it was to see you in my neighbor's eyes. You flow across all barriers, you light up all things, and when we look closely, we find that you're there before us, smiling, waiting for us to recognize you. :)