My foot is broken (5th metatarsal). Without rest it wont heal. This is also true for every part of you. Your spiritual, mental, emotional and physical health need rest. Whether things are calm or chaotic, rest is essential. Rest will shepherd you from an illusion of control and lead you to the larger narratives of love and justice.

Holly pond

A plastic folding chair with the arm torn off, resting in the vertical remnants of a pier that once was. 

This was his post, the launching point of a thousand mornings. 

A place where coffee and gliding geese folded the seams of days yet to be. 

But now, there is only grass, water, and this chair with the arm torn off. 

The meteorologist gave all the signs. 

Two pressure systems colliding in a place called tornado alley.

The barn, the house, the fence and dock.

Nothing was spared except those who can't be replaced. 

The years of turmoil, sweat and striving now scattered in the pasture and across the county line.  

And as he sits, maybe for the first time, he thinks less of what was lost, and smiles.

Then glide in the geese, folding the seam of a day yet to be. 

- B. Oaks