QUAKING ASPENS

QUAKING ASPENS, Internet Domain

SPIRIT VOICE

Pneuma is an ancient Greek word for air in motion or breath, wind, spirit and soul.  At Pentecost Jesus’ disciples or followers became apostles or messengers of the good news.  Acts 2 begins with the great sound of a wind from heaven filling the entire house where the disciples were gathered and they received the spirit with visible tongues of fire signifying God’s presence.

 

Some of my fondest and enduring memories of the Colorado Rocky Mountains are the sounds and sights of a stand of Aspen trees shimmering and quaking in a cool, high altitude, gentle breeze.  Quietly sitting near a fresh, snowmelt, mountain stream surrounded by a cloned colony of white bark Aspen trees is one of the most meditative and contemplative experiences of my life.  That feeling alone is worth a trip into an Aspen grove.  They are native to cold regions with cool summers in the Northern Hemisphere, extending south at high altitude areas such as mountains and high plains.  Aspen colonies primarily spread through their extensive root systems derived from a single seedling.  One colony in Utah named Pando is believed to have originated with one male quaking Aspen which has now spread via a massive root system to 100 acres and is estimated to be 80,000 years old.  All of these trees are joined together as one by an unseen force with one original creator, a bond which ensures their survival from devastating forest fires.

But what is the mystery behind these shimmering leaves?  Aspens have a flattened leaf stem that enables the serrated leaves to hang at a right angle which reduces aerodynamic drag on the tree branches in high winds.  Since the Aspen also drops its brilliant gold leaves every autumn, heavy winter snows don’t cause much trouble either.  When a high-country wind makes its presence known to these leaves, the pale summer undersides twinkle in unison as dappled sunlight highlights their movement amongst the stark white trunks.

And then there’s the mesmerizing sound of thousands of shimmering leaves in the wind.  The gentle sound is likened to a gentle spring rain on the roof above your bedroom at daybreak.  It is unlike the sound of any tree in the forest.  Leisure time spent among these quaking high-country Aspens is nourishing food for the soul.  And if we listen with patience and sensitivity, we can hear the eternal spirit voice whisper, “Be still and know that I am God.”              

A CUP OF BLESSING

Summertime Soulmates, Jamestown, NC

“Never lose an opportunity of seeing anything that is beautiful;
 for beauty is God's handwriting—a wayside sacrament.
 Welcome it in every fair face, in every fair sky, in every fair flower,
 and thank God for it as a cup of blessing.”
 —Ralph Waldo Emerson

“A soulmate is someone to whom we feel profoundly connected,
as though the communicating and communing that take place
between us were not the product of intentional efforts,
but rather a divine grace.”
—Thomas Moore

CROSSING BRIDGES

Beach Access Bridge, Kiawah Island, SC

Eugene Delacroix has written that “A picture is nothing but a bridge between the soul of the artist and that of the spectator.”  I took this photo as the sun was rising over the eastern shore and moonlight was transitioning to daylight.  I had risen early so that I could relish the experience and possibly capture an image to remember the moment as I approached a beach access bridge.

Bridges are generally constructed to provide passage over obstacles such as rivers, valleys or dense vegetation without disturbing or closing the way underneath.  Some of the earliest bridges were likely stepping stones or fallen trees that enabled our ancestors to easily cross over to the other side.  Most of us have an image of flooding river water rushing under a stalwart bridge that probably inspired Paul Simon to write Bridge over Troubled Water.

Fredrich Nietzsche observed that “Nobody can build the bridge for you to walk across the river of life, no one but you yourself alone.  There are, to be sure, countless paths and bridges and demi-gods which would carry you across this river; but only at the cost of yourself; you would pawn yourself and lose.  There is in the world only one way, on which nobody can go, except you; where does it lead?  Do not ask, go along with it.”  Bridges in dreams are symbols of stability, connection and transition.  “Love is the bridge between you and everything” according to Rumi.

As I stepped onto the beach access bridge that early summer morning, I was transitioning from the chaos of the world around me for just a short while and entering the peace and tranquility of the ocean waves timelessly washing ashore at my feet.  Nothing sooths the soul like a walk on the beach at sunrise as the world around me sailed away on the sea breezes.  And as the concerns of life began to drift out to sea, I reminded myself not to cross those bridges until I came to them.    

A MOSES LEADER

MOSES, FDR, World Leaders

June 6, 2019  D-Day Seventy Fifth Anniversary

A “Moses leader’ is metaphorically referred to as someone who capably leads his people through an extremely difficult situation safely to the other side.  My personal business experience revealed that it generally takes a different style of leadership to guide a company through trying times of survival versus one who takes the baton and leads the surviving company into more prosperous quarters. 

Moses was one of the greatest Biblical leaders of the Old Testament and led the Israelites out of Egyptian captivity into the Judean desert for forty years seeking the “promised land” in Canaan.  Franklin D. Roosevelt led the United States as president into his fourth term through the Great Depression and World War II. 

Historians and political scientists consistently rank FDR as one of the most influential figures of the 20th century and consider him along with George Washington and Abraham Lincoln as our three greatest presidents.  His biographer Jean Edward Smith wrote that “He lifted himself from a wheelchair to lift the nation from its knees.”  Moses is mentioned more often in the New Testament than any other Old Testament figure.  He along with Elijah is present in Jesus’ transfiguration on a high mountain.  He lifted the people of Israel out of slavery into a hardened nation of consequence.

Moses led the people to the banks of the Jordan River in sight of the promised land.  He passed his authority to Joshua and then went up to the top of Pisgah on Mount Nebo where he died at the age of one hundred and twenty.  FDR was in declining health as World War II was drawing to a close and traveled to Warm Springs, Georgia for rehabilitation and rest where he died of a cerebral hemorrhage at the age of 63.  His successor, President Truman, declared victory in Europe the following month, followed by the surrender of Japan in another four months.

Ironically, both of these great figures in human history were brought through trying times as they led their people to the brink of the promised land and were permitted a brief view of their ultimate goal before their life expired.  And then another personality led the people into the next phase of human history.