I recognize that even in the valley of the shadow of my own tangled thoughts there is something holy and unutterable seeking to restore my soul... I always stop and touch the coarse gray bark of one particular tree with my hand or cheek, which I suppose is a way of blessing it for being so strong and beautiful. Who knows how long it has been standing there wearing its foliage like a crown even though a part of it is dying? Because of that quality of sheer endurance one morning I found myself touching it not to bless it, but to ask its blessing, so that I myself might move toward old age and death with something like its stunning grace and courage.
Owl thought much about his life and about the loss of his father, his brother, and now Grandmother, Eyes of Wisdom. Death and the loss of his loved ones seemed a harsh way for the Universe to arrange his time here. This is perhaps why people have named the "All That Is" the Great Mystery, and that mystery may be what has sent me on this journey to find "My-Story.
Grandmother spoke. "For eighty winters I have lived among you and now the World of Spirit is calling me to the other side. As winter brings to a close each cycle of seasons, so death brings to a close the cycle of our lives. I have loved all of you as my children and you must remember, after winter comes spring; also, after death comes birth and a new beginning.
~ from EYES OF WISDOM, Book I, by Heyoka Merrifield
