Help me stay awake to every moment of this day: the events I like and those I don’t, equally welcomed in my sight, or at least not pushed away. Help me celebrate the simple truths, the march of clouds across blue sky, the scent of purple hyacinths, the small green pea shoots pushing up from seeds. If I am made in your image and likeness, may my heart grow wider and wider until nothing in this world is left outside, and I have nowhere to hide from love. –Danna Faulds, Prayers to the Infinite

Opening reading chosen and read by Amy W.

__________________________________________________

Around the Pond

Just enough murk can obscure or reveal you have to stand still and look close: lone trout wiggles from the shoreline; tadpole class darts off to recess; lily pads the size of quarters sway atop their tethers; purplish violets giggle in the breeze. Holy, holy, holy.

Reflections:

1. Love is like this open meadow, an expanse as wide as my eyes can open, holding the growth, sustaining the roots, even though its surface is uneven, difficult to walk.

2. Moss spread, damp with dew, soft like Sophie’s fur just below her ears, yet still itself receptive to my noticing, wanting my touch.

3. I catch myself bending to take a photo waiting for one elegant blossom to stop shaking in March’s wild wind. Can I be still, And still breathe?

Photos and reflections by Amy W.

____________________________________________

Glorious Brookgreen!

Photos by Jill W.

______________________________________________

Photo by Sue J.

_____________________________________________-

As I began my walk, these words from the opening reading focused my thoughts… “If I am made in your image and likeness, may my heart grow wider and wider until nothing in this world is left outside, and I have nowhere to hide from love.” I envisioned everything in the garden as being one with God and a creation of God’s love… nothing is to be left outside. I came to a stately old oak and stopped for a few moments under its enveloping arms. I was overwhelmed that this one majestic tree held so much beauty and life… tree lichen, Spanish moss, new growth, old growth, Resurrection Fern, a small moth flitting… reaching to the brilliant blue sky, while a small branch touched the pond water and the roots buried deep in the earth for nourishment!  Glorious! 

Buds of all types were bursting forth… each in their own time. On one bush there could be new buds, flowers in full bloom, and petals dying. The bushes that got more sun seemed to be emerging first as they reached for the light…

Photos and reflections by Nancy L.