tiny garden between flagstones
growing,gathering
spreading green hope
Moss
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Tag Archives: awareness
Contentment
moss tendrils twine
unharmed by winter wind and ice
needing nothing more
Spanish Moss is very common in our area of the Texas Gulf Coast, and in many areas of the South. It is not a moss at all, but kin to the pineapple. It needs only the moisture in the air for thriving. A freeze does little damage, so in Spring it comes back and continues to grow. Ice build up might make it heavy enough to fall to the ground. But if it does end up grounded, it is not dead. Tossed back to the trees, it will thrive again. Thinning it actually helps it grow.
Winter Book of Hours
Reminder
Recently, we had a small pot of Calla Lilies sitting in our kitchen window sill. I loved watching the blooms open, each tinted uniquely in ivory blushed with a bit of rose. I like these little flowers as well as their showier Christmastime companions, poinsettias,
As I packed away so many of the symbols of Christmas with decorations and trees, I was glad to keep plants like these, watering them, watching them grow, and enjoying their symbolism and stories. The brilliant red poinsettia has its story – called the “flower of the holy night,” standing for a little girl who wept on her way to church on Christmas Eve because she had no gift to bring. As she knelt on the ground to pray, she saw this lovely plant and gladly took its red beauty into the church as her Christmas gift to the Christ child.
But the calla lily plays a role in the Christian Easter service as a symbol of Jesus’ resurrection. In many paintings and other works of art throughout history, it has also been depicted with the Virgin Mary or Angel of Annunciation, associated with holiness, faith and purity.
I am thankful for little altars in our home where a flower or a rock or a bit of glass is something I can see and touch, reminding me of the sacred in all our ordinary days.
Star
Nora places the star on the stable, telling again the Christmas story. The star is a symbol of the true Light that has come.
In the church year are found Cycles of Light , Cycles of Life and Cycles of Love:
Today, the celebration of Christmas with family in the kitchen and around the table with festive celebrating has changed – slowing, stopping , savoring. Standing still in the Light..
The first step to peace is to stand still in the Light….
Stirrings
sit in dark stillness
light one candle
quickening as flame swells
Veni, veni, Emanuel
hold a little one high to see
starlights and manger scenes
join her awe and wonder
take joy in her ohs and ahs
sing Silent NIght for a lullaby
greet the leapings of your weary heart
welcome stinging tears
images of all Christmases past
while wrapping yourself in present gifts
attend to the stirrings of God.
This is True
Advent Credo
It is not true that creation and the human family are doomed to destruction and loss—
This is true: For God so loved the world that He gave his only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life;
It is not true that we must accept inhumanity and discrimination, hunger and poverty, death and destruction—
This is true: I have come that they may have life, and that abundantly.
It is not true that violence and hatred should have the last word, and that war and destruction rule forever—
This is true: Unto us a child is born, unto us a Son is given, and the government shall be upon his shoulder, his name shall be called wonderful councilor, mighty God, the Everlasting, the Prince of peace.
It is not true that we are simply victims of the powers of evil who seek to rule the world—
This is true: To me is given authority in heaven and on earth, and lo I am with you, even until the end of the world.
It is not true that we have to wait for those who are specially gifted, who are the prophets of the Church before we can be peacemakers—
This is true: I will pour out my spirit on all flesh and your sons and daughters shall prophesy, your young men shall see visions and your old men shall have dreams.
It is not true that our hopes for liberation of humankind, of justice, of human dignity of peace are not meant for this earth and for this history—
This is true: The hour comes, and it is now, that the true worshipers shall worship God in spirit and in truth.
So let us enter Advent in hope, even hope against hope. Let us see visions of love and peace and justice. Let us affirm with humility, with joy, with faith, with courage: Jesus Christ—the life of the world.
From Walking on Thorns, by Allan Boesak, Eerdmans, 2004.
Hope
This week I wanted to spend time listening to Christmas music, wrapping Christmas gifts and baking Cranberry bread. I did these things, but along with so many others , I struggled, shattered by news of more violence against innocent people , heartbreaking photos of grief-stricken families, terrified refugees, and the darkness of human hearts without hope and faith and love.
I have this pottery jar on my kitchen window sill. It has been shaped and fired and given as a gift of love. In deeper, mysterious ways, Advent is expressed hope, shaped and fired and given. In the darkest of times, this hope remains.
To love means loving the unlovable. To forgive means pardoning the unpardonable. Faith means believing the unbelievable. Hope means hoping when everything seems hopeless.
Gilbert K. Chesterton
Let Advent Begin
Photo by Pert Garraway Night Blooming Cereus
My friend sent me cuttings of her night blooming Cereus plants. She is a good gardener, and as her photo displays, she is an excellent photographer. But she would not be able to share this picture if she were not also willing to sacrifice some sleep (they only bloom at night) as well as patiently wait for the swelling buds to open. I removed my cuttings from their mailing envelope and put them into damp earth. But I, too, must wait as they begin to root and grow and bloom.
As I sit this morning, the first day of Advent, I think of this cycle and am reminded of another gift, the wonder of beginning again, of rooting and growing and waiting to experience the greatest mystery of all. .
Adult Advent Announcement
O Lord,
Let Advent begin again
In us,
Not merely in commercials;
For that first Christmas was not
Simply for children,
But for the
Wise and the strong.
It was
Crowded around that cradle,
With kings kneeling.
Speak to us
Who seek an adult seat this year.
Help us to realize,
As we fill stockings,
Christmas is mainly
For the old folks —
Bent backs
And tired eyes
Need relief and light
A little more.
No wonder
It was grown-ups
Who were the first
To notice
Such a star.
From If I Could Pray Again, by David Redding
Journey Home
Two days ago I traveled home to the Autumn woods of East Texas. There we celebrated the life and final home-going of my brother-in-law.
Color left the trees and bled into the sky as we turned south to head home.
City lights and sights say “welcome home.”
“Life’s a voyage that’s homeward bound.”
Stones and Feathers 