Life has a way of surprising us. As does death. In the last two months, six members of my extended family have passed into the next life. I was not expecting that those people who seemed so vibrant and alive would be gone in a moment. Harkens back to the post Wait. We never have the time we expect.
The praying mantis pictured above surprised me by sitting on a concrete wall in a local mall. I nearly didn’t see the wonder of it. It drew my eye because or at least in part because of the incongrousness of it all. When I finished my errands it was still sitting on the wall.
A few days ago, I was asked what a Life Coach does and if I wanted more business. The question surprised me, in that I have always believed that people who need me will find me or we will find each other. Later, I received four e-mails asking if I am available for various services and events for the next six months. Almost as if I were being told to get ready.
I like that life is surprising. I dislike conformity and uniformity that builds a rigidity that stifles our ability to grow and build community and life around us. I mourn my extended family but celebrate that I knew them. I like the surprise that asks me to look at what it is I am and maybe.
I like the surprise that asks us to invite the stranger to dinner, free the captive and heal the sick and let the mantis be on a wall in a parking garage.
