Soul Magic
THE
By David McLaughlan
My wife's uncle comes from a long line of agricultural
workers and he passed on this story about his dad, James.
James' family lived on a big farm in a little stone cottage.
Each day he would set out for work by walking across the fields.
Now, this being a working farm, walking across the fields
was not like a walk in the park. If the fields were untended they would be
"tussocky" and awkward to walk over without
twisting an ankle. The field might be ploughed. Cows might have turned the ground
to mud - or left other things on the grass that were best avoided.
But it was an everyday part of life and he thought nothing
of it.
One spring there was a late snowstorm. The wind howled all
night and the snow fell steadily. When James looked out in the morning it
looked like the fields had been filled in. Three feet of snow covered the
ground. All that could be seen of the fields were the tops of the hedges that
surrounded them.
You and I might have gone back to bed, but James was needed
on the other side of the farm that day to help with the lambs. It didn't seem
likely.
Then he looked at the landscape a little differently.
The hawthorn hedges that bordered each field were dense and
strong. The snow had filled them up and the cold had frozen them solid.
James climbed a gate and gently tried his weight on the
hedge. It held.
And off he went.
Those frozen, snow-packed hedges turned out to be the best
path James ever walked on that farm. By skirting around the edges of the fields
and stepping from one hedge to the other James was at his work in plenty of
time.
What were usually thorny impenetrable barriers, turned out
to the best way to go. What had seemed an impossible
task turned out to easier (and more fun) than it would usually have been.
Life! The path through it might not be what we expect. But
if we approach it with an open heart and an open mind, there's always a way!
— © David McLaughlan
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