Goldfinches

Outside my window is a small dogwood tree and lately several goldfinches, both male and females have been visiting. Every day they entertain me with their energetic fluttering, their delightful chirping and their constant moving from branch to branch.  Sitting still on the window ledge, they tap on the window and gaze at me with tiny eyes. They must be saying something...  I'd like to think they've come to awaken my heart, to remind me "Spring is here! Life is good!"  

Mary Oliver reminds us there is no beginning or end, the temple is everywhere and everything. You can reach out, arms wide open, but not reach... Those goldfinches sing from the unreachable place in the tree. Yet we find joy is in the reaching out.

Where Does the Temple Begin,
Where Does It End?

There are things you can’t reach.  But
you can reach out to them, and all day long.

The wind, the bird flying away.  The idea of God.

And it can keep you as busy as anything else, and happier.

The snake slides away; the fish jumps, like a little lily,
out of the water and back in; the goldfinches sing
from the unreachable top of the tree.

I look; morning to night I am never done with looking.

Looking I mean not just standing around, but standing around
as though with your arms open.

And thinking: maybe something will come, some
shining coil of wind,
or a few leaves from any old tree –
they are all in this too.

And now I will tell you the truth.
Everything in the world
comes.

At least, closer.

And, cordially.

Like the nibbling, tinsel-eyed fish; the unlooping snake.
Like goldfinches, little dolls of gold
fluttering around the corner of the sky

of God, the blue air.

~ Mary Oliver ~

(Why I Wake Early)