What’s in your pockets today? 
A family trip this fall to the North Shore of Lake Superior included an ambitious hiking schedule with three state parks in three days, along with some time spent climbing, throwing, and picking rocks along the shore. Oh, the irony! We hurried and rushed in order to slow down and hike. We hoped for sunshine as we used rainboots to stomp in puddles. On parts of one trail the leaves were so yellow against the gray skies that my eyes hurt and craved another color. I don’t know what felt chillier, the temperature of the monstrous water body we now call Lake Superior or the feeling of mystery run down my spine when searching for agates that were formed inside magma bubbles 1.1 billion years ago.
Upon returning home I couldn’t help but notice another irony. This time it was found in various pockets. Crumpled Kleenex, a gas station receipt, and a few coins were in the pocket of my jeans but my green down vest pocket held tiny smooth rocks, white beach glass, and a yellow maple leaf that my daughter gave me for safe-keeping. At home in her pockets was a collection of ten or more thin but strong magenta colored stems from maple leaves. “To make a project” she said.
To stay balanced, be sure to have two pockets. Carry in one pocket the idea that Earth is an awesome gift from God. In the other pocket carry the phrase “we are from dust and to dust we shall return”. Thank you Rabbi Esther Adler for sharing that story of creation care from the Jewish tradition which led me to think about pockets today. Someone once told me to take notice of the little things, pockets for example, for at some point you will realize that the little things are the big things in life. Have you noticed the little things in nature today- a color, a texture, a breeze, a split second view so grand that your mind couldn’t help but take a picture? Hey, what’s in your pockets today? What can you hold in your pockets to help you connect your daily life on this resilient, amazing, 4.6 billion year old planet Earth? Play. Learn. Love.
October 2012
