Tuesday evening, as we were getting dinner ready, a hawk flew into our yard and landed on the roof of a little garden shed just across from the patio. He sat there for almost half an hour.

Birds of prey are not uncommon in our area but they do not live here and we seldom see them. The one or two we have seen were just passing through, flying by in the distance and maybe stopping down at the creek for a quick drink or a rest in the shade of the trees. Having one in our yard was very unusual.  We enjoyed watching him in all his majesty, dinner somewhat neglected, until we happened to shift our attention momentarily and the when we looked again, he was gone.

The next morning we woke to him sitting on the fence of our pool. We stood at the window looking directly at him. He flew to the window to our left where only the screen separated us, looked in, and diverted to the gate leading directly to the patio. We moved around to watch him there and he sat while we made coffee and fussed around with our morning routine. Nothing we did seemed to concern him or frighten him off.  Shortly after that he was on the barbecue on the patio and there he sat for most of the morning. We eventually took the picture.

The whole experience filled me with awe.

It seemed to herald some kind of renewal or message, that my soul needed. It felt special.

If an encounter with a bird can fill us with hope and speak to us on a level deeper than our conscious understanding, how is that we miss that same experience with one another? I considered that I spent time to see the hawk. I spent time feeling. I was completely invested in the simple experience of the two of us being in close proximity of one another. I felt awe. I felt love. In ways I cannot explain, I truly felt schooled on a spiritual level.

We see what we want to see. We are what we think and what we do. I could have just as easily ignored the hawk or shooed it away. I chose to honour it.

I have that ability with everything I do. And what I do defines me. How I am defined influences others and together we shape the world in which we live.

How powerful is that?