I Sat By The Lake

 Last night, I sat by the lake as the setting sun sparkled like diamonds on the surface of the water. In that moment, the peace I felt was profound.

 I've been meditating on the blessing of water the past few days; being so close to Lake Ontario means that whenever I am feeling stressed or simply want to watch a beautiful sunset, I can just hop in the car and be there in minutes. Watching the sunlight sparkle on a large expanse of water is hypnotizing and uplifting; being close to a river, ocean or waterfall elevates one's spirit in a way that is indescribable. Water is healing to the body, mind and spirit; an essential element that, here in the Northeast, where we have abundant rainfall and clean drinking water, is often taken for granted.

I am very thankful to be here, able to drink clean water and hike near rushing streams and waterfalls, yet my heart aches for all those who don't have this simple gift of life: people in the Sudan and other dry land areas, who have been struggling to get clean water; those experiencing extreme heat waves and water use restrictions.

Today, I say a prayer for all those who struggle to find clean water, for those in inner cities who have no access to the restorative healing power of nature's most beautiful sources of water and I ask for God's help to do whatever I can to protect this precious resource. 

 When I am feeling down about the state of the world, climate change or the divisions that politics create, I am thankful that I can go to the water and find peace.

When despair for the world grows in me
and I wake in the night at the least sound
in fear of what my life and my children’s lives may be,
I go and lie down where the wood drake
rests in his beauty on the water, and the great heron feeds.
I come into the peace of wild things
who do not tax their lives with forethought
of grief. I come into the presence of still water.
And I feel above me the day-blind stars
waiting with their light. For a time
I rest in the grace of the world, and am free.

-Wendell Berry, "The Peace of Wild Things"

The Wonder of a Tree

 This morning, as I gaze out at the woods bordering my home, I see branches full of fresh new leaves just beginning to open and I meditate for a moment on the beauty and wonder of a tree. 

Each one is a unique expression of the Creator-maple, elm, oak, flowering pear, crabapple, magnolia.  Each one provides gifts to the earth according to its nature: beautiful blossoms, fruit, nuts, shade, shelter for animals and oxygen.
Trees absorb odors and pollutant gases, filtering particulates out of the air by trapping them on their leaves and bark. In one year an acre of mature trees can provide enough oxygen for 18 people. 

This Monday in April, sandwiched between Earth Day on the 22nd and Arbor Day on the 24, I am choosing to honor those trees that have been my friends throughout life.

As a young child, I fell in love with the pear tree that grew in the courtyard garden of our home.  On warm spring nights, after I had been sent to bed, I would watch out my window as its beautiful white blossoms shone in the sunset's glow and seemed to dance in the breeze.

 On the weekends, I had a very dear tree friend at our summer cabin, where my father built me a tree-house that I used to sit in for hours and read, sheltered under its comforting branches.  As I grew older and we moved to a new home that bordered an abandoned golf course, I would often walk there to sit under a willow tree on the edge of a pond and meditate.  The willow seemed to have a very gentle spirit that understood the pains of growing up and offered peaceful, tranquil solace.

There is a children's book called The Giving Tree" by Shel Silverstein that celebrates the lifelong friendship of a boy and an apple tree. It begins: "Once there was a tree and she loved a little boy...“And every day the boy would come and he would gather her leaves and play king of the forest”....“He would climb up her trunk and swing from her branches and eat apples”...“And the boy loved the tree . . . very much. And the tree was happy.”  As the boy grows older and loses interest in playing, the tree gives him her branches to build a boat and then a house.  Finally, when he is old and there is little left of the tree but a stump, the boy wearily sits down on the trunk and together, they rest peacefully.

On this April morning, I ask whoever reads this post, to reflect on the trees that have touched your life. Go outside, sit under a tree and feel its gentle spirit; thank our Creator for every gift of life, but especially the giving trees.

Spring Cleaning For the Soul

 Today, I am sharing my annual "Spiritual Spring Cleaning " post. As we focus on clearing out "stuff" from our homes (as Tom and I have been doing this past week), may we do the same for our spirits.

 I am writing this on an early Spring morning…gray and chilly still, but with the scent of new life in the air. I throw open the window and listen to the birds at my feeder, excitedly announcing this time of rebirth. My thoughts turn towards spring cleaning, rebirth and renewal and how these can serve as metaphors for our own spiritual growth.

I really don't enjoy cleaning at all, but my mother-n-law, Joan, who passed on several years ago, left behind a legacy of ritualistic spring cleaning. Each year, come March or early April, Joan would empty and wash every cupboard and closet, scrub every wall and window and launder every curtain and rug. Top to bottom, everything received a thorough airing, cleaning and reorganizing.  No matter how chilly it was, she would throw open the windows, disinfecting with sunlight and fresh air every nook and cranny of her beautiful home.

When she reached the age of eighty, still in her own home, still doing her spring cleaning, she said to me "You know, Patti, I just don't enjoy it like I used to", which of course made me chuckle. Although I couldn't relate to ever enjoying cleaning, I did admire her spunk and energy.

So, as we enter into this season of Spring, I think of Joan with love and admiration and try to apply her spring cleaning lessons to spirituality, which resonates a bit more with me than actual physical cleaning (important as well, of course!):

• Emptying:  Releasing old hurts, resentments, anger, sadness, anxiety, fear of the future, regrets of the past.  This morning, I step outside, face the sun, breathe deeply and let it all go. like laundry flapping in the breeze.
  
• Washing:  On my in-breath, I visualize the pure white light of the Spirit coursing through my body from the top of my head, out through my feet, clearing any debris, washing me clean.
• Scrubbing: Washing alone can't always do the job.  There are always stubborn stains, crevices, hidden grime, etc. that need a little scrubbing with a stiff brush. What old habits and patterns are hard to break, but no longer serve me?  What accumulated junk in my home or heart needs to be thrown out and replaced with new, fresh, beautiful things?
• Laundering:  Water is a metaphor for the Spirit. Ask for help and be given the cleansing, renewing refreshment of the Spirit. This water is restorative; showered freely on all who ask.
• Airing: Breath is another metaphor for Spirit. As I breathe in, I feel the gentle wind and Light of Spirit, disinfecting any areas in need of inner healing, airing out anything that has previously been hidden and needs to come out into the open. Like wounds that need sunlight and fresh air, my inner emotional wounds can be healed as well.
• Reorganizing: After cleansing, I need to replace old energy with new; negative thought patterns with positive, inspirational messages. Whatever speaks to my heart, whether it's scripture, quotes from inspiring leaders, poetry or song. Embrace the new, let go of the old.  Be encouraged and strong, create new habits, create positive change in my home, my heart and the world.

This is a process, I know, that is not easy. I cling to old ways of thinking and doing things, as most of us do. But I can start with today, letting go of something old, breathing in the cleansing refreshment of God's Spirit, claiming the Light of renewal and taking one small baby step toward something fresh and new! 

“Create in me a clean heart and renew a steadfast spirit within me” Psalm 51:10

 

 

 

New Every Morning

 I woke up this morning with a verse in my head; one that is a favorite of mine, but seems to have special meaning on this day after Easter:

"Yet this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope: because of the Lord's great love, we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail...they are new every morning. Great is your faithfulness..." (Lamentations 3: 21-24)

This speaks to me of a hope, not of some future date when things will be better or we will experience the promise of eternal life, but a living hope that is new every morning. A hope that is present, in the here and now; a newness of life that can be living in our hearts each day.

No matter what regrets we have for things said or done in the past, no matter what brokenness or heartache we have experienced, we have a Spirit available to us that fills us to overflowing, restores us and makes us new, everyday.

It doesn't mean that we're not accountable for mistakes made, but it does mean that we are shown mercy, that forgiveness is freely given and that newness of life can be ours if we choose to accept these gifts.

I've been around long enough to have made a bunch of mistakes in my life and I could easily allow myself to get bogged down in self-blame and regrets. Or, I could take this verse to heart and trust that I truly can be made new each day, letting all the past baggage go and trusting in the promise of a new morning.

Morning has broken, like the first morning

blackbird has spoken, like the first bird

praise for the singing, praise for the morning

praise for them springing, fresh from the world...

(Cat Stevens)