Ponder

Ponder

Ponder huddled closer to his big brother, Winter, under their covers.  It was cold this morning, colder than usual. He could hear Mama and Papa talking in early morning whispers about how it was likely today would welcome the first snow and how the first snow always reminded them of the day Winter was born.

The first snow day!  Ponder had never known that Winter had been born on a first-snow day.  So this must be why he was given his name. Is that how babies get their names?  Where did his name come from?

"Mama.  Papa! Does my name mean something?"  Ponder sent a loud whisper across the tent.

"Oh.  Good morning!"  his father's voice was still rough with sleep.

"My name.  What does it mean anyway?"

"Hmmm.  You know when something is hard to understand, like what changes the weather, what makes a stars shoot like an arrow across the sky?  Those things do not have easy answers. There can be so many possibilities. In our minds we can think about those questions and the possibilities for a long time.  Doing that kind of thinking is what it means to ponder," Father sat up and poked at the fire in the middle of their tent.

"Oh."  Ponder thought for a moment about stars and weather.  Yes, those were things he had wondered about.

"When we are deep in such thought we get quiet.  Our face shows our deep thinking. Our brow becomes stern.  Our lips become still and closed and sometimes our eyes will look off somewhere far away.  Look."

Ponder looked over toward the fire, now coming alive with small flames.  In the small light his father has arranged his face in the way he was describing.  Ponder tried the face himself. It was not hard to make. It felt familiar to him.

Mama sat up and scooted toward the warmth of the fire, "When babies are born they usually make the faces and sounds of crying, for it is such a shock to come into the world. But when you came into the world you had this face.  It was very unusual and special. Papa and I felt honored to be given a son coming into the world and already considering deep questions. That is why we chose your name." Mama sat a little taller and nodded with a smile. 

Ponder lay quiet.  He felt warm inside hearing his parents share this specialness about him.  He rolled closer to his brother and thought about the first snowflakes bravely making their descent from the skies.  And then he realized he was indeed, making that face.