Early one morning as I walked along the dirt road atop Griffith Park, I came upon a time-worn wooden fence post with a small wooden signboard attached. Beyond it were the big buildings of Hollywood, and of Los Angeles beyond it, glowing in the dawn light. On the weathered little signboard was a note, written with a felt pen, that said "You made it!" followed by a smiley-face.
Something about those words claimed my attention. I stared at the sign for a while, contemplating its meaning. Who knows who wrote it, or why? Maybe someone went on a run to see how fast they could get up to the ridge, and then celebrated the accomplishment with the note on the pole. Or celebrated the accomplishment of someone else.
Or perhaps it was a prayer, acknowledging "You" as the maker of all that lay around and below the fence post. "I" certainly didn't make it... not I, nor any one individual who uses that personal pronoun. It was arresting to consider just how many human beings, and how much human effort, it took to make what lay at the foot of those hills. Anyone looking for a miracle wouldn't need to go further than that viewpoint, considering the marvel of cooperation, hard work, and skill required of millions of people, other than me and my puny contribution, to build this vast city.
Nor would a person need to look any further than the oak trees, chaparral, rocks, and birds of Griffith Park in order to remember that a "You" other than "I" was the maker. Wearing the edges from the rocks, shaping the draping forms of the hills, coaxing life up from the rugged landscape, were beings and forces beyond me.
That little note delivered me into humility. For a blessed moment, I sensed my place in the universe. It was calming, relaxing, to drop my pretense about the scale of my role in the world. And soothing to feel the embrace of the divine "You" to whom that note might have been addressed.
"You made it!"
Indeed, and amen.
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BIRDLIKE AND BARNLESS seminars/book talks/signing events with Jim Burklo:
Tuesday, 9/23, 4:30 pm: Doheny Library, Intellectual Commons, 2nd floor, University of Southern California, Los Angeles - free and open to all
Saturday, 9/27, 10-2: BIRDLIKE AND BARNLESS Seminar at Irvine United Church of Christ, Irvine CA - www.iucc.org/calendar.html for info -
Sunday, 9/28, 8:45 and 10:45 - BIRDLIKE AND BARNLESS - sermons in worship by Jim Burklo at Irvine United Church of Christ
Sunday, 10/5, Noon: BOOK TALK/SIGNING at Christ Church Episcopal, 70 Santa Rosa Ave, Sausalito, CA
Saturday, 10/25, 9:30 am: "Season of Care" Seminar at Lafayette-Orinda Presbyterian Church, Orinda, CA - www.lopc.org