The sign said, “Please leave something of significance. “ What
a novel request to make for what I thought was, for sure, was made by the
padre of our local church. I know
they are struggling to keep the modest church from financial disaster and
perhaps this is a request for some sort of ecclesiastical garage sale. I was hard pressed to decide what
significant item I might leave for the sale.
Back home I looked on my bookshelves trying to decide what
might be appropriate. There is a
little carved rabbit I bought it from a Hanoi street vendor years ago. At the time I had hoped it was not made
out of ivory, perhaps animal bone, but it is a dear little thing significant to
me because I was born in the year of the rabbit.
The next item is a circular bone box filled with sand and eggshells
from a young woman who gifted me the treasure. Inside the box are the egg remains of the now extinct
Malagasy elephant bird. That for
sure ought to fetch a good price from the right person who knows its
value.
Propped up against a bookend is an Incan figure, from the
shoulders up. I am a bit ashamed
to say that I dug it up in 1963 from a graveyard, located in an isolated desert valley
in Peru. At the time it seemed innocent enough but I suspect that I would not
do that again, out of respect to the departed.
I hold dear my small green rhino carved out of malachite which
I purchased from a sidewalk vendor in Chile, but another might think that it
was just a plastic animal.
On my mantel is a Tibetan prayer wheel which I can easily spin
around and around. Inside there
are dozens of prayers written on thin yellow paper and I suppose giving it
several twirls make for a quick succession of blessings and acknowledgements to
Buddha. Helps to cover as many
bases as one can I’d say.
