'Faith and Peace Can Only Come From Love'

I sit here in the stillness of my house, with the sun shining through the large picture window. The view seems bare since the old poplar was removed after the small ice storm we had a few weeks ago. It was inevitable as we watched the weight of the frozen branches pull the tree down to the ground like the wire on a bow. It arched over the inuksuk as if protecting it from harm’s way.

The arborist asked me if I would disassemble the ‘stone structure’ before he began his work, and I told him “no, I trust it to maintain its strength through the process; it will not fall”. He looked at me like I had two heads, and started the chain saw. I watched from the window, and he looked up at me once before directing his partner to pull the rope that was attached to the trunk more to the left.  I felt a shift as something about him changed.  I'm not sure if he fully understood my connection with the inuksuk, but he suddenly sensed that maintaining the inuksuk’s existence was very important. He knew that I had faith in his ability to protect its space in my garden, and that I would value his efforts of preserving it.  

It is that silent faith that is most effective within our lives and the people in it. Sometimes, we do not need words or conversation; just calm and universal trust that everything will be alright. From that comes what is meant to be. We give up the need for control and allow things to flow. It can seem good or bad, but in the end, it all works out and with that comes freedom.  The tree moved behind the inuksuk in a slow steady swipe and gently landed on the ground.  The woodsman immediately looked up at me with a large grin and gave me a thumbs up.  I smiled back and mouthed "thank you".  I knew the inuksuk would remain standing because it is where it is meant to be.  If it had fallen, I would have been at peace with that too. 



On this Valentine’s Day, I wonder how much control we allow into our lives when we are seeking love and our perception of it. Maybe we just need to have a little faith in the natural progression of it and how it will play out. I love my inuksuk and the peace that it provides me, but I knew that its fate was in the hands of the arborist’s care and the trust that I had in him. And from that, my new mantra came to me; ‘ faith and peace can only come from love’.

Happy Valentine’s lovelies xoxoxoxo