THE GIFT OF GARDENING

BACKYARD GARDEN, JAMESTOWN, NC

“The difference between the man who just cuts lawns and a gardener is in the touching.  The lawn-cutter might just as well not have been there at all; the gardener will be there a lifetime.”

 ~Ray Bradbury, Fahrenheit 451 

I recently had three trees removed from my backyard to allow more sunlight to enter and facilitate a healthy environment.  As it turns out, a brighter spot on the edge of the grass now receives a nice dose of sunlight to stimulate both the grass and a new garden of flowering plants.  So, I’ve had the pleasure over the springtime to add a little more interest to the small piece of our planet that I’ve been entrusted to oversee. 

 I also do the lawn cutting around the little space that I maintain and will relinquish one day.  But hopefully, my springtime gardening project will also add a sense of solitude and joy to some fellow sojourner as it has to me.

 

 

HEARTBEATS

Sunrise Walk, Kiawah Island, SC

I’ve experienced a variety of situations out in nature at sunrise when darkness is being driven out by the emerging light of another creation day.  All of those dawns evoked a warm sense of peacefulness.  

Walking an ocean beach at sunrise with the rhythmic sound of waves breaking on shore certainly qualifies.  It’s been said that music is the language of God.  And that rhythm is the dance of the music.  I like to think that this association stems from deep seated memories of our first nine months of life in our mother’s womb, surrounded by amniotic fluid and the peaceful, rhythmic sound of her loving heartbeat.

 

REFLECTIONS ON LIFE LESSONS

Road of Life, Jamestown, NC

I've got more days behind me than ahead of me,

so I plan to choose wisely and make the most of them.

It matters not how long we stay,

But that we learned love is at the very core of our existence.

Being in relationship with our creator and fellow sojourners,

Is necessary for us to travel throughout our assigned age.

Never lose the opportunity to learn and grow,

And life will remain forever enlightening.

Our senses of sight and sound can only detect a small spectrum,

But that may just be in our best interest of actual physical reality.

The greatest loss in life is not death,

but what dies inside while still living.

Courage does not always scream and shout,

But whispers I’m still alive and I’ll try again.

Besides, what’s considered the worst thing,

is not the last thing.

 

COKE PERSPECTIVE

COKE PERSPECTIVE, Summerfield, NC

 If you’re sitting around waiting on the world to entertain you, you’d better pack a lunch! I learned a long time ago during those long, hot, summer vacation school days that I needed to find something to love and learn do it as good as possible until I discovered something else to put in my tool kit. Learning something new like photography even if you don’t master it is a lifetime pursuit. Just make sure that it’s constructive, e.g., “rioting” never scores points on a resume. Neither does hacking a stranger’s Facebook account!

YEI-BE-CHAI

Spider Weaving, Jamestown, NC

 The Navajo believed that Spider Woman initially taught their ancestors how to weave their symbolic and spiritual rugs. And that makes perfect sense if you have ever watched a spider painstakingly weave each strand of an intricate web into a beautiful work of art, like the one I captured in the yard.

Karen and I debated buying a YEI-BE-CHAI rug in the Navajo Four Corners area years ago, but we were concerned about what we perceived as a flaw in one corner. Later we discovered it was a spirit line meant to allow a portion of the weaver’s soul to be released which had been woven into the art form—a beautiful belief.

DON'T BLINK

Hope of  Rebirth, Jamestown, NC

Kenny Chesney has a great country song titled “Don’t Blink” about the fleeting passage of time, e.g., you go to sleep one day and you wake up married to your childhood sweetheart!  Of course, time does seem to fly by faster when we’re enjoying ourselves instead of burning daylight in distasteful activities like going to the dentist.  If you Google “fleeting time” you’ll find many quotes on the subject.  And those observations cast a wide net over time and humanity.  You have to believe that every human being that ever drew a breath on this planet has easily experienced fleeting time, especially since modern man invented the clock.  But even earlier in time man watched the years, seasons and days slip by without ceasing. 

Only our creator has been recognized as being timeless, while we mortal beings with frontal lobes in our brains understand that our beginnings have endings that arrive all too soon.  Our pets wake up each morning living constantly in the present moment without the concern for endings.  We could all take that lesson from them, understanding that mortal life does have a stop date, but Jesus has left us with the promise to be with us always and he has prepared a forever spiritual life for us after this mortal life.

All of the miraculous wonders of another spring season burst into our lives every year to remind us of the hope for a meaningful life and the hope of rebirth available to all creation, because of the cross and resurrection that occurred one spring season over two thousand years ago.

We need to make peace with the passing of time and embrace each waking moment we have without knowing exactly how much sand is left in the hourglass.  I do recognize that I have more days behind me than I have ahead of me.  Using our time wisely and intentionally also includes wasting some of it to recharge and refresh.  If we can learn from the past and plan for the future, our present moments can be filled with gratitude, fearless hope, healthy relationships and new possibilities.  

So, don’t blink!  And we will rest in peace.

MOON OVER JAMESTOWN

 

MOON OVER JAMESTOWN, NC

“The moon looks wonderful in this warm evening light,

just as a candle flame looks beautiful in the light of morning.

Light within light...It seems to me to be a metaphor for the human soul,

the singular light within that great general light of existence.”

~Marilynne Robinson, Gilead