Just A Moment To Be

February is beginning to wind its way down.  I'm sure there will be one or two more blizzards on the way, but spring beckons cautiously around the corner.  Do you know that spring is one of my least favorite seasons?  Spring cannot make up its mind.  I cannot handle wishy-washy-ness.  Feel what you feel.  Say what you feel.  Have a decision about yourself.  Spring just doesn't know.  It's mild, then cold, then warm, then mild, then cold, then cold, then hot, then mild, then warm.  Spring is for the patient, slow-roll souls. Angela is decidedly not in this category.  She does not have a slow-roll in her body.  She thinks she is trying hard to learn a patient lesson, but she is not, she really is not.  Everything is go time. 

The idea of spring reminds me of movie that I watched when I was young.


Not having a television as a child made the experience of watching movies a phenomenon.  It was a major event, generally reserved for holidays, to go to the local library and sign out the 16mm projecter and cart out 3 or 4 large circular cases of film strip.  Each chair, every couch, kids with piles of blankets, all faced the wall above the basement stairs in expectation.



Lots of viewing time to be had here.

Getting to thread this piece of machinery was a big deal.

Charlotte's Web is what I remember most.  I have snippets of other movies in memory.  But Charlotte's Web was my favorite.  And I am not a fan of the arachnid. And I was not a fan of how blatantly they put in the film about the purpose of the web and how she eats. I might still actually throw up in my mouth a little.  I digress.

There is a song in the original movie that talks about the seasons, how they change and repeat, the value in time, and how blessed we are to be a part of life for just a moment.  This is an important lesson.  We are blessed with life and it truly is for just a moment, a small space, in the big plan of the world that God has in place.  Charlotte understood how important it was to make a contribution in her small space in "life's eternal rhyme."  I hate to spoil it for you - but my good friend, Charlotte, doesn't make it in the end.  I was sorrowful every single time she didn't make it home from the fair.  I wanted to will her to live.  She was so important to one little lonely pig.  I wanted him to continue to have her for a friend.  Even at a tender young age, I knew the value of having someone to love, to trust, to listen, support, and enjoy life with you.  You don't need a lot of someones, but you do need one. 

Charlotte's Web celebrates friendship.  The joy of giving of one's self and time for the benefit of another.

Says Charlotte:

“You have been my friend. That in itself is a tremendous thing. I wove my webs for you because I liked you. After all, what's a life, anyway? We're born, we live a little while, we die. A spider's life can't help being something of a mess, with all this trapping and eating flies. By helping you, perhaps I was trying to lift up my life a trifle. Heaven knows anyone's life can stand a little of that.”   

It reminds me to be grateful: for the time I am given, for those who pour love into my life, and for the knowledge that the ability to write is a gift.  A gift that can be used to enrich and encourage others.

My favorite quote:

“Wilbur never forgot Charlotte. She was in a class by herself. It is not often that someone comes along who is a true friend and a good writer. Charlotte was both.”  

I can think of no better benediction.