Dazzled

 

During the early hours of this morning whilst driving home from a gig I accidentally hit and killed a rabbit.

I immediately stopped Winston and walked back up the desolate road. The rabbit lay quivering in the middle of the road. I crouched down beside it and looked into its eyes, and said to the rabbit, “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to hit you. You ran out.” I also said that it was safe to let go, watching tearfully as it took its last breath.

As the rabbit took its final breath I reflected on the fragility of life in a body - how I sometimes fill my life with assorted paraphernalia in a desperate bid to avoid having to face the inevitable - death. In such moments I become like the frightened rabbit, twisting, turning, looking for love in all the wrong places, paralysed by the headlights. This fear keeps me from embracing life.

The rabbit is afraid of committing to moving in a direction that may help it get away from the car - because it’s dazzled by the lights. These are the lights of our lives. We forget that the choice is always within our grasp, no matter how bright the illusory lights may appear to be. The answer is always within; it was waiting there the whole time, just to be remembered. And when we remember, anything is possible.

‘The story of the human race is the story of men and women selling themselves short.’ Abraham Maslow

 

As I made my way back to the car a new day was dawning; I stood on a bridge overlooking a river. The pre dawn light was absolutely breathtaking - a strange mist was rising above the water, backlit by a golden glow. A barn owl flew across the water and into a nearby tree and bird song filled the morning air. I wept at the simple beauty of it all. I prayed for the release of every rabbit on the planet who has become dazzled by the headlights of this so-called life.