The Way of a Man with a Maid...

In Proverbs 30:18-19 King Solomon declares: “There are three things which are too wonderful for me, yea, four which I know not: The way of an eagle in the air; the way of a serpent on a rock; the way of a ship in the midst of the sea; and the way of a man with a maid.”

I share King Solomon’s awe in these things. I’ve worked with birds of prey for some years but I still get a rush when I see them in the air! While standing in a yard recently I saw a prairie falcon silently swoop from her perch just yards away to cross my line of sight. I stopped and my heart gave thanks at the miracle of it! It was…too wonderful for me!

I’ve never had the aversion to snakes that many people have. I’ve always found them fascinating too. I’ve caught and played with, then released, hundreds of snakes in my life. In my youth I killed many that were poisonous, or many that I thought were anyway. I don’t do that much anymore, unless they pose a threat. When I see them now, I think the world is a much more interesting place with them in it, so I pay my respects and move on. It would be a shame to kill one of Gods miracles…

I think I have a little different take on ships at sea than the one King Solomon may have had. I’m in awe of the men that sailed the old wooden ships out into the vast blue, not knowing what they would face. My awe is of their courage and ingenuity. The adventure of it sends my heart there…to feel the wind and the salt spray on my face, to wonder what the next horizon will bring!

It is the forth which I know not…the way of a man with a maid. It amazes me that one day a man can be thinking of how to join one piece of steel to another or about where to stop on his next trip through the land of enchantment and then a woman can unexpectedly enter, then consume, his thoughts. All it takes may be a simple hug or a moment when the sunlight brings out the gold flecks in her eyes. The sight of it captures your imagination. Maybe it’s the moment when you touch her skin and it feels softer than the finest silk... It can be completely distracting!

Where your only thoughts of color may have been to see the way steel changes from black to bright yellow in a forge before…now you drift away with thoughts of how the gold and green in her eyes changes with the light. You dream of smelling her hair and feeling her breath on your skin.

Thoughts of candlelight dinners and hours spent with your arms around her in front of a fireplace crowd out the poems waiting to be written in steel. All of the sudden you no longer feel whole when she’s not there. The sunsets that were so beautiful not so long ago now seem empty without her to share them with. It can feel great to be alive and miserable all at the same time?? No wonder it’s inspired so many poems and songs !!!

The way of a man with a maid. Surely it’s one of Gods greatest miracles...one I hope I never understand!