Opening the Package

I order a lot of medication and supplements to care for my body's guest house. Some arrive by mail, some come by treks to the pharmacy or health food store, some grow in my garden. On this particular day I was opening a package that was sent to me from a pharmacy in California.

I don't know about you, but when I open up packages from the UPS driver, I tend to do so absentmindedly. One more chore in a too long list and with a preoccupied mind. But when I opened this particular package, I was stopped in my tracks. It was wrapped with such beauty and intention that I could only bow in front of it. That wonder became this poem.

I remember a few years ago when a friend sent me a package in the mail, how she'd taped photos of flowers to the outside. Such a heartfelt gesture. I loved reusing that box to send my niece her birthday present. I wonder how many times that box has changed hands since?

Oh heart, forgive me for the ways I fail to notice the gestures of love that are laid before my feet each day. Help me to pause, to see and remember.

Opening the Package by Karly Randolph Pitman

The medicine arrives
wrapped in paper, tucked
with care like a present,
folded triangles laid on top
of each other so that
opening the package
feels like receiving
a gift. You feel blessed
by this extra attention,
as if the person sending
you your medicine
whispered a prayer
on your behalf
as they packed up
the box for shipping,
a prayer that arises
to meet you as you slice
open the box with a knife,
spread apart the cardboard
flaps and unwrap each vial
with the tenderness of the one
who packed it.

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With a grateful heart, Karly