"Recently, I saw some children watching snow fall for the first time. It was a joyous moment for everyone present: the children, their parents, neighbors and other children. In Prayers of a Thousand Years, poet Coleman Barks tells a story that makes this point in a wonderful way:
"A child stood on his seat in a restaurant
Holding the railing of the chairback
As though to address a courtroom,
'Nobody knows what's going to happen next.'
Then his turning-slide back down to his food,
Relieved and proud to say the truth,
As we were to hear it.""We certainly don't know what's going to happen next. The freshness of unfolding life is what makes each moment so important and unique. The ordinary can become very extraordinary when we see how fleeting it is and receive it as a gift. A shared life moment with those we love or revere makes an essential imprint in the deep places within our spiritual infrastructures."
