Blackberries, a fruitful season

So on my way from the bungalow to the bus I found a patch of blackberries. Ripe with the end of summer heat I came to an understanding that a few days previous, 6-year-olds were sharing with me. A simple thought but it seems to be a poignant analogy for the present. The sweetest, most juicy berries in the patch are the ones that are hardest to reach.

The juiciest berries are the most difficult to reach because you may get scratched or pricked by the protruding thorns, but eventually the joy of attaining the berry is sweet in your mouth. This as well is not long lasting. Eventually the berry will be consumed and the sweetness will be swallowed, no longer on our palate. We may remember the berry and want more of it – like the little ones who were sharing the joy of picking berries with me the other day. Their hands full of berries they could no longer hold, yet continued to pick “just one more” and each time, it was one more, then one more. We eventually had no space to hold berries without spoiling them to waste along the ground. The cup became full, along with our bellies. At the moment we no longer could reach for another, when the juiciest berry was furthest from our reach, we simply had to give up on wanting what we could not have.

Even though the sweetness was enjoyed in our mouth, no longer were we interested in the flavor, as we had had too much to stomach. We enjoyed every moment of discovering another sweet spot, reaching out to find the perfect ripest one, sometimes getting pricked by the protection in the process, though grabbing for more until eventually we were full.

Presently, the only berries left on the vines from a season past are rotten now with over ripened mold and the summer days have turned into the fall: a fruit bearing vine is now simply an invasive weed. Those special tangy treats were delicious while they lasted and now we must relinquish the moment to appreciate a season of sweetness it was lovely and delicious while it lasted. May we now appreciate the fruitful offerings at present?

I appreciate the moments I am able to share with children in my presence. I feel of their light and their connection to the energy of the light above and all around us. Any person who shares the connection with children understands that it is a space where we once were as a child: exploratory and free, eyes wide open to all that is around us. Staying close to that light, to that inner child, there is the connection to the divine. Embracing the passing day with arms wide open and seeing all that goes on. Open to all fruits of every season.