Shining Spirit

In case you haven’t noticed, there are some lovely wildflowers blooming along parts of Oracle Road. They’re scattered in patches, but the blue and yellow and pink colors certainly add to the joy (!) of driving on Oracle. Recently my wife and I pulled into the parking lot of a storage company on that same road, drove around to the back of the building, and slipped the car into a narrow parking spot. Getting out of the car, we glanced over a metal railing, down into a rocky ravine, a naturally wild piece of ground, and saw this. And more.

Now, this is not the most spectacular sight among the flowers growing along Oracle Road, but it stopped us for a “thought minute.” Look at this beautiful spot, we said at the same moment. It is unseen by drivers going up and down Oracle Road, completely out of sight. It is wild and unkept. It’s a “nowhere” place. And yet, it blooms. It’s as if the colorful wildflowers were saying: It doesn’t matter where we are. We are flowers and we are going to be flowers; we are going to bloom. What you see in the photograph is just one wild plant among many in that narrow, insignificant slice of earth. We counted five different kinds of plants, all doing what they are meant to do…bloom. And they did that very well in an anonymous place, without the intention of being admired. Anyone else pulling into that back parking lot and seeing us taking pictures down into a obscure ravine might have thought: “Poor senior citizens. They’ve lost it.” What they wouldn’t know is…we found it.

Lots of implications from this brief experience. Name a few for yourself. And while you’re doing that, don’t forget to bloom today. You were made for that.

A quick word of explanation: I’m having fun writing short responses to traditional life Proverbs, like “A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush” or “Don’t cry over spilt milk”. There are dozens of them. Like this one, a response to “As you sow, so shall you reap.”

I don’t understand; perhaps you can explain.
Why am I treated with such disdain?
Why do people go out of their way
to ridicule me; O, the things they say.
I’m a very straightforward, honest guy.
I speak the truth; I never lie.
I pull no punches; a fact is a fact.
But you should see the way people act
when I lay it all out, when it’s plain to see
that they are not nearly as smart or as wise as me.
And yet they get angry and call me names
when all I’m doing is trying to explain
why my way is right and the world is insane.

Well, friend, since you asked let me explain it this way:
You offend your neighbors when they hear you say
that you know it all; your way is right,
they think you’re trying to pick a fight.
You see “what you give is what you get”
and I’ll speak the truth: from where I sit,
you’re reaping exactly what you sow
and maybe you need to let people know
that you’re not an arrogant know-it-all
after all.

The old proverb is true, just so you know:
you do, indeed, reap what you sow.

In your meditation today, be particularly
grateful for all things that teach us
about grace and beauty.
What have you encountered recently
that causes you to pause in praise?
What have you experienced that 
demonstrates the creative genius of
the many forms of life?
Look for one thing today that
invites you to stop and admire
the craftsmanship of God.
May you be overwhelmed
with too many choices!

Let your anchor be in what
you love, not in what you fear.

Live today from hope,
not from regret.

Speak three happy words
for every dismal thought.

Smile at a stranger
instead of turning away.

Yesterday was,
today is.

You can do it!
Will you?

You’ve heard the phrase: “…the tip of the iceberg”? A little bit of iceberg is visible, but if there’s a little bit, then you can be pretty sure there’s more that is unseen. Tips of icebergs don’t float around on their own without underlying support. The photo above is revealing. It helps me understand the concept of faith as 10% knowing and 90% trusting. I know a little; I trust a lot. Those percentages work for me like this: History, brief though it is, records the reality of a man named Yeshua and the things he did and said. He walked the earth and talked about an alternative way to live. He told people they could start living that new way immediately, not that they had to be good to get the reward at a later time. Here and now it is ours if we are willing to accept the 90%, to trust. You and I are already where we hope to be, we just can’t see the 90%, so we trust. Someone might say: Well, over time the 90% becomes knowing also. I hope not, because faith is based on Trust. I live with the cloud that defines and obscures at the same time. I know and I trust simultaneously. On those days when I demand to know beyond my capacity to understand, the cloud gets thicker, but when I Trust, when I live with the “maybe” and the “what if…”, that cloud thins out and I catch glimpses of the peak, glimpses that I’ve never seen before. It’s the sharp edge of faith that slices through the obscurity…and that’s Trust.

I love to look at the mountain, even when I can see only the peak rising through the cloud. If I can see the peak, then I Trust that there’s more unseen, more beauty and majesty. And that’s faith. And that’s enough. Food for thought in your journey. Press on.

A moment of mystery,
life's puzzle in a picture.
Beautiful bird flies because of wind's embrace,
propelled by the unseen source.
Wings and wind create wonder.
No wind, no flight.

Waves, elegant power rushing
and churning, magnificent mayhem
that changes the shoreline,
recreates with the repetition of
current and tide.
No wind, no wave.

Magical Mystery:
Wings
Waves
Wind

Simple Wonder

Hope you don’t mind if I re-visit a poem/prayer written six years ago.

Today will be like no other day
in the long journey of creation.
The sun will appear,
people will come and go,
laugh and curse,
rejoice and weep.
A bird will sing from
the laurel bush, and
the mountain will look
out over the brown desert.
I will pray for human
understanding and kindness
and feel a stab in my heart
at the depth of our insensitivity.
But this day will be like no other
because today I will hum a tune
and hear your harmony in my
soul. When I walk through the
garden, I will see your smile
in brilliant colors and soft
shadows. I will speak your
name in the wind, and the
world be embraced
in blessing.

To the Christ of Life. Amen

There were hints of sunlight yesterday. Not many, but enough to make you feel that there was a reasonably good chance of a pleasant day. Then the sky became gradually darker, and then the wind blew stronger, and then came the thunder and a sharp bolt of lightening. Now what to do? I was on my way to get the car, located on the far side of the car park, when the symptoms of storm became serious.

The prelude to the several-act drama was light rain. It was gentle at first, the trick rain plays when it lures you out into the unprotected open and then dumps on you. No umbrella, so I’ll wait. It won’t last long. The wind picked up, the sky darkened, then a bolt and a boom and the first few ice droplets clicked off the glass door. A few more people stood at the exit, pondering the predicament. Do I run now while it’s hailing a little bit? Do I wait for a break in the action? Maybe I give up and take a chair in the lobby. What to do is sometimes influenced by the urgency of the moment.

Long story made short: within a ten-minute sliver of my life, dark asphalt pavement became a glistening glory of white wonder released by the sky. My choice: do I curse under my breath about the inconvenience of this unexpected moment? Why now! Or, do I hear the rhythm of the ice crystals tapping on the door, watch the transformation, feel the temperature drop slowly, think of that Winter painting I admire so much, remember the family fun we used to have in the deep snow, gasp at the canvas changing before my eyes as the artist splashes Titanium White recklessly?

Unexpected life happened unexpectedly. How to respond? Gratitude or grumbling? Squinted eyes of impatience or wide eyes of wonder? Which “me” emerges: the curmudgeon or the kid? My choice.

I have collected 100 prayers in a little book called Songs Of My Soul. Today I decided to open the book without looking through it…just open the book and see which prayer is revealed. This is the result and I offer it to you this good day.

“May this prayer rise today from the depths of my heart as an offering of sincere gratitude for mercy given and blessings bestowed.

Ever Creating God, may your kingdom come on earth and may I be an agent of its boundless love and healing mercies. As you spoke through Jesus long ago, today speak through my life so that all creation will know of your abundant love.

May healing and health come to all who suffer illness; may joy fill the hearts of the despairing; companionship replace the loneliness so many feel in our complex world. Show us the way, Lord Jesus, to wholeness and peace.

May the hearts of world leaders be moved by the simple needs of the people they govern. Our commonality is in you Jesus, our completeness and our sense of purpose and direction. You are the light in our darkness…you are the living water for which we thirst. Show us, again, the way to the fullness of God.

I am thankful for this moment of prayer, a sacred moment spent in the presence of the One who gives me life and purpose. Amen.”

Today is a gift. Treat it that way. Press on.

Shining Spirit of Truth, in this season of Lent, help me clear away all the debris in my life. So much is unnecessary, and yet I carry it with me from day to day. Old wounds. Words heard and words said. Memories, both negative and positive, that keep me from seeing your fresh creativity. As the great oceans release debris through the natural motions of tide and wave, so through my prayers and reflections, may I release all that troubles my spirit and keeps me from a profound relationship with you.

May my personal journey toward wholeness be free of the clutter and contamination that seek to keep me isolated from your love. I am a Resurrection man. I am a Resurrection woman. Help me, Lord, to approach the cross and the tomb with courage and a clear commitment to your purposes in the world.

I make this prayer in the name of Jesus, the Way, the Truth, and the Uncluttered Life. Amen.