Somewhat Nibbled

From Annie Dillard’s book, Pilgrim at Tinker Creek:

” ‘In nature,’ wrote Huston Smith, ‘the emphasis is in what is rather than what ought to be.’  I learn this lesson in a new way every day.  It must be, I think tonight, that in a certain sense only the newborn in this world are whole, that as adults we are expected to be, and necessarily, somewhat nibbled.”

Yes.  Yes, yes, and yes.  We ARE somewhat nibbled, and those nibble marks are visible and palpable and discernable.  They make us US.  I love getting to know nibbled people, really, being one myself.  I find the small missing bits endearing.

Mending is another ongoing process.  Some of our nibbles seem too big to patch, but they fill in over time, with enough love and patience and determination and care.  Although I still have some ragged edges, this has been a marvelous summer of mending for me.  And, in the meantime, I don’t mind the nibbled margins.