I arrived at work today to see that my boss left me a "build your own kaleidoscope" kit. It's cool. The little booklet with it talked about meditative/therapeutic uses, even suggesting hospice workers use them with those they care for. It talked about how the scope creates patterns out of random pieces. And, while recognizing someone had the job of trying to say something interesting and significant about kaleidoscopes, this got me thinking.

We are all kaleidoscopes as well. We look out at the events of life and try to see some patterns, create some patterns, try to participate in beauty. And it is amazing how small shifts can dramatically alter the landscape of our lives and the way we feel about them. Some events make us want to fix the kaleidoscope in place, never changing. Others make us want to take the random pieces and rearrange (order) them more to our liking. But life keeps spinning, and perhaps the sanest among us are those who marvel most.