We went to a Fourth of July neighborhood parade on Wood Avenue. It was sweet, people dressed in red, white and blue; little ones with blue streamers and red stars poking out from their bicycles.  No floats or funnel cakes. Just a bunch of people starting at one end of the tree-lined avenue and walking/biking to the other.  The houses are large and beautiful along Wood, reminding me of the fancy parts of the Northeast coast.  I went with my sister, Jill, Andy and the kids. I didn't have any 4th decorations, so Lizzie's trike had two purple streamers dangling from the handle bars and Andrew weaved a purple streamer through his bicycle wheel. We walked for a while, Andy and Andrew had to speed up so they could actually ride their bikes. Jill and I walked with Lizzie as she rode. Lizzie is my little flow girl. She is in the flow of life. She stops and smells the roses.

We were about at the halfway mark when I noticed a man, long scraggly blondish hair under a baseball hat that read something about being a veteran. He was wearing long baggy shorts and a t-shirt and on a very old bike. He pulled up next to me and said "Do you know where the parade is?" And I looked at him quizzically and thought for a moment. Then I said, "You're in it." And he said, "Huh." And went on his way. My sister and I looked at each other and laughed. But I saw the shimmering gem in there.  You are in it. YOU ARE IN IT, JENNY. God delivers messages in beautiful, comical ways.  I have spent a good deal of time looking around for God, trying to find the miracles in life. Where is God? You are in it, Jenny. Why can't I have guarantees in life that everything will be okay? You are in it, Jenny. Why do we have to suffer? You are in it, Jenny.  To be with God, is to be with all of it. In this world of black and white, right and wrong, this may be hard to accept. But what is, IS. Be it pain, joy, fear, tight, soft, hard, light. God is in me and I am in it. What is...IT? It is LIFE. I need not look further than my son's face, the tear in my sister's eye, the flow of my daughter, the wringing of my hands asking Why?, the laughter of a friend. I am in the parade, as are we all. Let us live in it. Every single part of it.

 

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