Written around 2001, on a bench in front of the library... my bench.

THE LEAF

I was recently sitting on a bench at school drinking coffee and killing time. I lay an empty gaze to my surroundings. I saw a leaf fall to the ground. It lay on the ground for a while, then it started to slowly move. Gradually, it started to pick up and

DANCE

Just picture it in your head. There`s the leaf and the wind... accompanying each others moves, anticipating the next step, moving as one... and ultimately becoming one. Twirlling endlessly, and gracing the earth that it moves on. It was beautiful. It was extremely beautiful. I just sat there and watched...

Then I started to think about God... In this dance, both the leaf and the wind were performing. Pretty soon, you just see the leaf, and nothing more. You are conditioned, if you will, into seeing just that object; all the while not processing what the wind is doing with the leaf. If you think about it even more; the wind alone is what moves/leads/directs the leaf, not the leaf itself. The wind is what controls every factor of the movements of the leaf.

such is my life.

I am the leaf, and my life is the dance the leaf performs... what enpowers life and a will to continue? Ultimately...God. The Lord is my wind... I cannot dance without him... and my life is not what it can be without him... There are so many "happy" lives that people live... yet they are just leaves that do not dance... waiting to be trampled upon, decompose, disappear and be forgotten.

Yet life with God being the source of empowerment, encouragement, strength and ultimately love is the leaf that dances. The leaf, may not be very significant, but will establish a sense of beauty, wonderment, and an undeniable feeling of joy in those who see the performance. It make them feel what I felt when I watched that leaf... But sometimes the leaf doesn`t catch the swift arms of the wind, I myself have been in that situation alot. But I know, the wind is too large to miss everytime, and sooner or later, I will catch it again. The wind has promised. For those who do not yet see the wind... it is there. You may not be able to see it... but it is there.

Only a fool will deny the existence of the wind. A fool... I feel as if I often become oblivious to the wind... I am the foolish leaf that thinks I am leading the dance. But even in this situation

the wind will not stop blowing, and the leaf will not cease in its dancing.

In all of life, even in a simple thing like the movement of a leaf when the wind blows... You will see the face of God.