Rare and Beautiful Country

Today I am grateful for the geese I can hear as they fly over, starting their journey south. I am also grateful for peace, recognizing it and seeking it.

This quote recently crossed my path and sort of parked itself in my mind and heart:

"It began in mystery and it will end in mystery, but what rare and 

beautiful country lies in between."

(Diane Ackerman)

Profound and thought-provoking words. She doesn't say what "it" is, but it sounds like "it" is life and the meaning of life. To call it all "rare and beautiful country," to consider each fellow being as "rare and beautiful," gives us a kind and loving perspective that our overly busy, overly competitive, overly superficial social and cultural ways of today too often miss.

Life can be frightening, challenging, exhausting at times. But without those times, how would or could we ever appreciate the days of new energy and peace? 

If I spend less time trying to figure out the mystery and more time enjoying the journey through rare and beautiful country, my life will be richer, filled with simple joys. And those who cross my path today will feel it and see it and be more likely to pass more of the same along.

What rare and beautiful country lies ahead in the next few hours? Pay attention and we will see many amazing and heartening things.