Part One: 1930

As I stroll in silence alongside a bubbling stream,

A glimmer of movement flickers off to the side.

I turn swiftly to catch the gauzy azure wings

Disappear at the moment a meadowlark sings.

The chirping stream, the merry meadowlark.

The early sun tingles upon my skin.

A musical, magical place, I just know I'm right...

I sit on the cool soft grass as I pray for new sight.

The meadowlark alights on a twig above the happy brook,

Her song is a hymn of the meadow

Her puffed yellow breast gleams with pride,

And her song finds the  peace I'd lost inside.

A spotted deer drinks just a few yards away

And the stream is content to share it's purity.

As I watch in silent awe and childlike glee,

The deer raises her head and...wow...she winks at me.

Then the grass, a grove of surreal green

As it dries the morning dew,

Comes alive with a sight I'd always hoped to see--

Nine tiny fairies, looking up curiously at me.

They make me want to smile, so I do,

Their radiant laughter is wind chimes in the breeze.

They don't seem amazed that I'm aware they're there,

With their guileless smiles, they draw melody from the air.

They dance, they play, their laughter like Christmas bells

Instill in me a desire to join them, but doesn't yet feel right.

So, I watch, and listen. I'm rapt in their dance.

I know, just know, I'm not here by chance.

The tinkling, chiming fairy songs sound like praise--

To what or whom I don't know.

But when one sweet pixie wing grazes my cheek with a kiss,

I know I'm in church, in this garden of bliss.

With the sun-washed mountains around me,

And the blossomed meadow and clear stream in my midst,

I know this is my sacred place, and my time to shine,

I can leave in contentment, for I now know what is mine.

Maybe not mine alone, because that does no good.

This sacred meadow was meant to be shared.

After all, church is for those desperate for light,

And what better place than here to make wrongs right.

So search for that special purple-woven meadow

With the misty rainbow fairies, majestic deer, and lark.

Open your ears, open your eyes, and open your heart,

For church in holy meadow will bestow a fresh start.