Presence and Awareness !

 

One of the delights of a garden is to watch the arrival, presence and flight movements of birds. I vividly remember the Barbet above, arriving and flying away after few minutes of getting a sense of what was around. It looked around for ripe fruit of custard apple in the tree. Having not found, it flew away to its next flight station which was to a papaya tree!

What captured my attention was its neck movements to have a 360 degrees view of the environment to have an awareness of all that was around. Presence with a sense of awareness!

Anna and I are at a season in our lives, when we are looking around and within to get a sense how to move forward!

What we sense now is the value of quiet presence and living with awareness!

The needs around us are many and unending! 

To be present and grow in awareness of one's calling in a given situation is what matters!

A person from the local panchayat who came to inspect how we manage the waste disposal at home, told me, 'now that you do not have to go to hospital, you can have time to do something different'!

I remember that I spoke on phone or sent messages to more number of people in the last one month since I retired, than what I was used to! 

The Barbet left for its next flight station with a bird call! It was its message of presence and awareness! It offered its gift of presence to others!

A person who sent me a long e-mail a few days back, telling the family story offered me a gift of presence to connect with our story in this season of our lives. I felt touched by that act of kindness.

The sense of awareness of others and their needs is often the beginning of using an opportunity to be thoughtful and responsive. 

The Barbet occupied the space of the garden for a short while. It left after gifting us with the tuneful bird call ! A bird gives out its bird call for other birds! It is a message of its presence and awareness of other birds. 

Late Mr Oommen Chandy, a former chief minister of Kerala was laid to rest yesterday in his home church. One message from his life that many recollected was:  he was present to others with a sense of awareness of their needs. His mission was to find people whom he could help. He did not wait for people to come to him, but he went out searching for people whom he could help!

Being present to others with a sense of awareness!

M.C.Mathew(text and photo)