The Likes of Me

In my youth my dad exposed me

to the teachings of St. Francis of

Assisi. Brother Moon and Sister

Sun, all things natural were gifts

of God related to you and me.

I thought it would be cool to have

birds and squirrels flock around

me unafraid as Francis in painting

and statuary is so often portrayed.

Later on in life, I figured no matter

how decent a person I would endea-

vor to be, I was still a human being.

Other creatures had an ingrained

tendency for survival which prohibi-

ted them from trusting me implicitly.

Still, to this day, I have an affinity

for that romanticized mythology.

But now, as an adult I find myself

aligned more to the brass tacks of

reality.

I realized that I would just have to

admire wildlife from a safe distance

which in many cases (say with wolves,

lions and venomous snakes) would be

mutually advantageous for both them

and me.

Mark Twain, I discovered later, had

sort of the same take on the under-

standing of our connectivity with

all creation. He went so far as to

include Lucifer into the mix worthy

of our understanding.

After all, there cannot effectively be

good without evil to oppose or balance

things out. And more often than not,

we never give Beelzebub his due.

In considering Twain’s argument,

I would have to say that I surely

can relate.

In my youth, having been raised in the

Catholic Faith, and as a baptized and

bonafide recipient of the Sacraments, I

was compelled to go to Confession once

a week and receive God’s forgiveness

for the devil acting out heinously and

selfishly from within me.

It is small wonder that birds and

squirrels know better than to cozy

up to and trust the likes of me. And

if I were you, I’d be wary too,

Chris Hanch 10-21-18