change

The season of blossoming trees is almost over

and petals rain down pink onto the green.

Change, relentless change. Beauty passes. Petals fall. But if all bloomed at the same time would the garden be as splendid?

We change, we age, we get sick, we die. I just can't dwell on that. How can I possibly understand how I will feel if mom succumbs to her illness? I push it from my mind.

Hope, I hang on to hope.

Blossoms dropping one by one.

There is a place where all will bloom, splendidly, simultaneously, eternally.

in the cool of the morning

Early, before the temperatures soar,

the light stretches up stems and crowns glow golden.

the lowly

Another sodden day, and the scent of lilacs is heavy in the air.

Tiny water droplets shimmer everywhere.

The day is truly not dull but saturated with colour.

And yet, the loveliest of all was underfoot, neglected and despised

but gifted with a veil of glory on this soggy morning.

"The lowly are raised up" and wisdom is whispered in a still small voice.

Yesterday Mom, Dad, and I spent the morning in the hospital while mom was undergoing some tests. The insight into mom's condition wasn't forthcoming- but perhaps the lack of information speaks volumes. Dear parents, so much of whom we are is wrapped up in them. Time is diamonds, their words are golden and their love precious beyond words. No matter how much I think I am ready to let go, I am not. Yet the God of the new morning speaks to me in the whisper of beauty. Wisdom readily available when we open our hearts.

crab apple

The Gifts of God

When God at first made Man,

Having a glass of blessings standing by;

Let us (said He) pour on him all we can:

Let the world's riches, which dispersed lied,

Contract into a span.

So strength first made a way;

Then beauty flow'd, then wisdom, honour, pleasure:

When almost all was out, God made a stay,

Perceiving that alone, of all His treasure,

Rest in the bottom lay.

For if I should (said He)

Bestow this jewel also on my creature,

He would adore My gifts instead of Me,

And rest in Nature, not the God of Nature:

So both should losers be.

Yet let him keep the rest,

But keep them with repining restlessness:

Let him be rich and weary, that at least,

If goodness leads him not, yet weariness

May toss him to My breast.

G. Herbert

the orchard

Spring

Again the violet of our early days

Drinks beauteous azure from the golden sun,

And kindles into fragrance as his blaze;

The streams, rejoiced that winter's work is done,

Talk of to-morrow's cowslips, as they run.

Wild apple, thou are blushing into bloom!

Thy leaves are coming, snowy-blossomed thorn!

Wake, buried lily! spirit, quit thy tomb!

And thou shade-loving hyacinth, be born!

Then haste, sweet rose! sweet wood-bine, hymn the morn,

Whose dewdrops shall illume with pearly light

Each grassy blade that thick embattled stands

From sea to sea, while daisies infinite

Uplift in praise their little glowing hands,

O'er every hill that under heaven expands.

Ebenezer Elliott

The orchard is finally in bloom, almost 4 weeks later than last summer. Heise's trees are gracing the lawn with a canopy of white and pink.

wings

"Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself.

Each day has enough trouble on its own."

the words of our Lord

Each day has troubles of its own and each person has troubles of his own. How often do we let these troubles take wing? Do we leave our anxieties at the foot of the cross? More often we let them corrode our souls and sap our spirits. Little troubles, big troubles. Why can't we leave them with the Author of all things living?

Sometimes I do, and peace refreshes and renews. Perspective is regained. Life is eternal but life on earth is short.

american gold finch in the red bud

shades of red

shades of white

shades of pink

shades of orange

may 11th

we dance

They pray, they curtsey, they dance

and the spirit flows through them

as the fabric twirls around them

and the joy flows into them

as ponytails flail about them

and they learn GRACE!

a different world