‘We do not inherit the earth from our ancestors, we borrow it from our children.’ Navajo Proverb
In our home we have a large curio cabinet that has become an altar of sorts. It is in this massive glass doored piece of furniture that I have placed a lifetime of accumulated small objects that connect me to the sacred. This morning as I was busy in another part of the house, I heard the distinctive sound of one of those glass doors being pulled open. I put my work away and quietly walked into the hallway. There I could see the silhouette of our seven-year old son carefully placing an object on one of the glass shelves. As I walked up behind him he turned and looked up at me beaming. He explained that he had just found a leaf that was shaped like a heart in the back yard. He placed it on a shelf next to some acorns. We had collected those acorns together a few weeks ago; on the first day of autumn. At the time I had explained to him that we needed to find five; one for each member of our family. I then gave him a quick lesson on how those tiny little acorns each contain a giant oak tree inside of them- and how we are all like those acorns-working at growing into our full potential. I didn’t think he had taken much of what I said in because he was off and running in another direction before I ever finished my last sentence.