November 23, 2022

Thank you for the light that you are.
Thank you for the life that you are.
Thank you for the blessing you are.
You are sacred to me.

I stood in the middle of the road and sang this song over and over. I was loud. I didn’t care that the men could hear me, even the one with the handgun stuck in his pants. 

Gratitude is part of every day of my life. No particular time or ritual. It’s just spontaneous. And in those moments of gratitude there is great joy. But not today. Today the gratitude was a gut punch.

On my way to have lunch with a friend, I noticed the men standing in the road. I slowed down. Then I saw the deer. I pulled over. As I approached the deer who was still alive one of the men said, “Careful, m’am. Don’t get too close.” But by then it was clear the stag was not able to stand on his back legs. It was clear his spine was broken. I got closer and sent him the energies of love and peace. The stag stilled and we made eye contact, eye contact he held as I sang the blessing song. At first I sang softly. But then loudly. I was singing to the stag. I was singing to the deer clan. And the stag held eye contact. 

Thank you for the light that you are.
Thank you for the life that you are.

Around me one man, I assume the man who hit the deer, kept apologizing. Another man was on the phone to the state patrol who we all knew would not respond to this call. There was no one who would respond to this call. I asked one of the men if he had a weapon. “Yes, I do,” he said and pulled up his shirt to reveal the hand gun in his jeans. I stepped back and continued singing. 

Thank you for the blessing you are.
You are sacred to me.

To their questioning glances I said that I was honoring the spirit of this animal. We must honor the spirit of this animal. I didn’t stay for the fatal shot and as I walked back to my car I turned and thanked them for what I knew would be their honoring of this animal. 

Sacred stag.
Sacred brother.
May your clan gather
To take you home. 

You are sacred to me.
Deep gratitude for your life.

Gratitude. It’s always important, perhaps especially when it’s a gut punch.

Beannacht,
Judith