This Morning

I am an early riser and this morning, when I went out, the sun was beaming softly through banks of low, gray-white clouds. 3 seagulls had drifted in from the Atlantic and were busy squabbling with a dew crows over some scraps of garbage. The dispute was resolved amiably when it became apparent that there was plenty from all.

A neighbor or two stumbled to their cars and began their trek to work and traffic began rumbling on the nearby highway. A rehab center sits at the end of the street and the night guard was exchanging 'good mornings' with a few residents out for a walk.

The kudzu that drapes the  trees in the lot next door is almost visibly growing, the oaks have settled into their summer stateliness, and the loblolly pines, having at last dropped most of their cones, are attempting to touch the clouds.

Ragweed is prolific and a myriad of wildflowers dot the landscape. Somewhere nearby, a lawn is being mowed and the smell of fresh cut grass blends with a touch of salt from the Atlantic and a hint of muck from the nearby waterways.

A couple of squirrels have grown used to my presence and sit eating breakfast a few feet away. They must be puzzled at the presence of such a large, but friendly and harmless, creature. Anyway, we get along well and exchange pleasantries before I head in for coffee, sausage and bread.

This, this day to day routine, is the Divine dance. It is all we really know. All conjectures of mystics and theologians, of Popes and bodhisattvas, of Saviors and philosophers pale into insignificance at these sights and sounds and smells. The presence of the neighbors, the birds, the squirrels, and the trees of Creation is all we are given as evidence of the Creator and, if you look at things the right way, that's enough. Life, the gift of the Creator is all we need to create a new religion. Belief, without dogma, benevolence without moralism, pleasure without Hell. No structure, no priests or preachers or finger wagging, money grubbing churches. Just us. Just life. Get that right and then maybe our Creator will, at last find us worthy of deeper knowledge, but, we have to get the basics right first. America, your new religion is life.