I found this little tadpole in a small pond.  He and his brothers and sisters were frolicking in the muck and paddling around like toddlers fresh from a morning nap.  I suppose there is nothing really unusual about these little guys.  Well, except for where I found them.  Their little pond was in an indentation on the top of Enchanted Rock!

Enchanted rock is a granite monolith located just north of Fredericksburg in the Texas Hill Country.  It is part of the Llano Uplift and one of the oldest rocks in North America.  The Rock rises 425 feet above the surrounding countryside and dominates the horizon. The Hill Country stretches out for miles and miles around the Rock..

How did those tadpoles get up there?  The ponds dry up within a few weeks and there is no place for the frogs or toads to hide.  I am pretty sure their Mama didn’t climb up there, I nearly didn’t make it!  (Actually I didn’t on the first try!)  Perhaps they lay their eggs and then the eggs are dormant until a soaking rain.  I really do not know.  But the evidence is clear, these tadpoles were in small, temporary ponds in the middle of a huge rock.  It is a mystery!

Like most mysteries, it causes me to wonder and ponder and wonder some more.  Knowing the answer is not nearly as interesting as sitting with the questions it raises.   These questions allow the mystery to break through the mind and into the soul.  Once there they give off an aroma of awe and unknowing that fills the soul and brings to life a understanding that there is more to life than what I may ever know.  That unknowledge is a gift that makes each day a journey of wonder.

Life abounds!  And in that abounding the soul is awakened and remembers that which it has never been or will be known.  Love and trust, joy and hope are made possible in that space carved out in the sanctuary of our unknowing.

Life abounds!  Our  daily lives are enriched with the unknowledge that there is a presence far greater than ourselves at work in and through the world around us.  By living in that presence we grow in our capacity for love and trust, joy and hope.

Life Abounds!