Shapes of Passing "Clouds"

“Oh… Look, can’t you see…and now, the way that it is changing, there is clearly…” and thus the excited and animated discussion would go on between myself, as a young lad, and whomever my youthful companion for the moment was, as we would lie next to one another in the summer grass and contemplate what we each perceived in the shapes of passing clouds.

And now, today I hear fractious groups, sects, denominations, political persuasions, social and cultural clans, all demanding that those of other identities “see” the definition that they perceive in the shapes of events and circumstances in our shared world. And those circumstances and events change with the same certainty and dynamic as those clouds that we as youngsters passed the time of our lives watching and wondering about. We never became angry when our perceived definition of a particular shape did not echo the identity seen by our companion. Certainly not! We were enjoying the experience of sharing a moment of life together in the knowledge that those clouds that occupied our attention… would constantly change into something else… and our creative energies would be challenged by a new vision.

Is it so very different in our world’s circumstances today? Can we not manage to respect each other’s interpretation of the elements of today’s set of realities in the understanding that in the very dynamic of life’s nature, all of those elements under our consideration will quickly change into new “shapes” with the winds of time. Are we so sophisticated and “mature” that we can not reclaim the innocence of youth’s ability to accept, adapt, agree to disagree, and even… could it be possible… laugh together at our petty differences.

I know… I am being simplistic… unrealistic… heaven forbid!, even idealistic. But does not retrospect, history, and reflection teach us that all of those “clouds” that we thought to be of such consequence in our yesterdays' considerations, have, in fact, passed into simple, elementary, and even often inconsequentially small matters in the scheme of life? Have we not learned with the passage of time, that many of those lost friendships, alienated neighbors, estranged family members, opponents in war, and adversaries in arguments could have been maintained as integral parts of a more complete and less fractured Us if only we had been able to respect their alternative perspective as being legitimate… now that those “clouds” of that past moment have been blown away by time?

I aspire to a life of enthusiastic, inquisitive, and loving participation in each day’s offered opportunities… with you… the soul and spirit that joins with me in this ideal. And we will, together, change our own personal world one little bit each day. You watch. You wait. You will see. “Oh look… the clouds in our shared sky are changing shape yet again… and again…”