Mary Poppins

At some point during every Christmas I spend at home, I inevitably pick up one or more Mary Poppins books and binge read.  This time, I was struck by a passage from Mary Poppins Comes Back.  In it, the newborn Annabel talks to a starling:


"I am earth and air and fire and water.
I come from the Dark where all things have their beginning.
I come from the sea and its tides.
I come from the sky and its stars, I come from the sun and its brightness.
And I come from the forests of the earth.
Slowly I moved at first, always sleeping and dreaming. I remembered all I had been and I thought of all I shall be. And when I had dreamed my dream I awoke and came swiftly.
I heard the stars singing as I came and I felt warm wings about me. I passed the beasts of the jungle and, came through the dark, deep waters. It was a long journey." - P.L. Travers

The starling chides her and says that she will never remember all of this as she grows.  No human can.  Sure enough, she forgets.  But at this closing of the year, as we assess our paths and map out our futures, let us all remember that we came from the Dark where all things have their beginning.  Let us all remember all we have been and think of all we shall be.  May we all feel warm wings about us.