This is a strange time to be publishing a memoir about the power of love to resolve grief. How can ordinary people go on living every moment of every day with loving, joyful spirits of generosity in the midst of our collective grief over war being waged against Biodiversity, Social Diversity, Equality and Inclusion?
Yesterday I woke up thinking about all the spiritual experiences I have had with hawks in the past four and a half years since since John died. My almost daily visits from a Sharp Shinned Hawk for a year after John died are facts, as are the frequent visits from a Fijian Goshawk while I was in Fiji, the following year.
The Sharp-Shinned Hawk that visited with me for a miraculous half hour on December 27, 2024 on my final morning of birding in Arizona is also a fact. Here he is.
My interpretations of these facts are my choice to make. Whenever I see a hawk, I choose awe. I choose hope. I choose clarity. I choose to view these visits as the spiritual miracles they are. “Thank you John, for reminding me to keep my eye on the big picture. “
I choose to research what these spiritual experiences mean to others.
.In many cultures around the world hawks are spiritual messengers calling us to rise above challenges quickly and decisively. Hawks remind us that we have untapped inner powers to help us chart our course. Hawks symbolize clarity of vision, protection, strength, a broad view of history, a wide-angled view of the present circumstances and a long view of our destinies.
From this perspective, I can see that my memoir is much like John’s hawks in that I am sending a book out into the world that carries spiritual messages about the choice we all have to respond to grief by calling upon the most powerful force in the universe. “Gravity is to the body what love is to the heart, soul and consciousness. Gravity relates to what can be measured, while love relates to what can be imagined. Gravity sustains matter; love gives it meaning. In the end, everything is held together by love.” (Satish Kumar, 2023)
CONTINUING LOVING BONDS 