Holy Litter

I’m a collector of sorts.  Many have seen my elephant collection numbering over 100. The more unusual the elephant, the more inclined I am to get it—within a decent price, of course!  The collection is fun, but I’m not always proud of what this collection can represent: the sort of luxury only available to those of us in more affluent cultures. 

However, I have another kind of collection building slowly but surely, on my desk:  two small, very different stones, a feather possibly from a blue jay, a slightly smaller, spotted feather – (woodpecker of some sort?), a sand dollar, and the most recent additions—two cherry-sized green acorns from our oak tree. This collection is different; the kind of collection with which children might line their pockets or from which a child-at-heart (like me) might draw spiritual inspiration.

As I was walking this morning, I thought about why I keep such seemingly trivial items on my desk.  Call it a thread of sacredness which connects these objects – holy litter; reminders of God’s benevolent and enduring nature--reminders of life at birth, rebirth, transition (acorns) or a life past living which still leaves beauty (sand dollar).  Stones or pebbles shaped smooth by wind or rivers or whatever God placed around them; feathers shed, no longer necessary, or in the way.  All of these become metaphors for me of a life lived in God’s presence.

We all experience birth and rebirth, transitions throughout our lives.  In experiencing those transitions we often have to shed “feathers” which might have been necessary at one time, but no longer are.  And who hasn’t weathered streams of difficulty; erosion is painful, but can leave us less “rough around the edges”. And in spite of (or because of) all of this, my hope for you, for me, is that like the remnant sand dollar, we’ve lived the kind of lives that remain in the memories of others, a very beautiful symbol of God’s love.