Night falls earlier now doesn't it?  Have you been noticing?  Last week I was out on the deck at dusk lighting candles in the twilight when I looked.up .to see a pool of moonlight running across the lake towards shore. I stood there a moment enjoying its beauty, the cool air, the gathering dark and the silky swell of the water. I couldn't make out the moon yet,the view from the deck is filled with leaves most of the year. Only in late fall or during the winter can it be seen rising up from the horizon. In the background I could here the news, but the sound of the last crickets was still strong. While only a moment, the beauty of it soothed and lifted my heart. I thought of all the people on their way home from work or settling in after a long day and wondered how many others had seen the moon.   Did you?

The mechanics of living are much like the leaves of the lakeside trees.  Alluring as they both are, they obscure a clear view.  There is so much artificial stuff in our lives. The sheer volume of the hard and bright overwhelms our capacity to take in the modesty of the genuinely beautiful.  Has that happened to you?  Do you still see what is quiet and unassuming?  Next time your mind wanders away from the never ending parade of screens in front of you, consider it an invitation to lift up your head. What you are really need

to see lies beyond.

But life holds mystery for us yet.  In a hundred places

we can still sense the source: a play of pure powers

that--when you feel it--brings you to your knees.

                                                             Rilke, Sonnets to Orpheus II, 10