Category Archives: nature

Working on it

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1_Cor_13

Enders Island
December 28, 2015

Love is patient, love is kind.
It is not jealous, it is not pompous,
It is not inflated, it is not rude,
it does not seek its own interests,
it is not quick-tempered, it does not brood over injury,
it does not rejoice over wrongdoing
but rejoices with the truth.
It bears all things, believes all things,
hopes all things, endures all things.
Love never fails.

1 Corinthians 13:4-8a

Have Faith in Goodness

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Striped_daylilies

Hemerocallis ‘Frans Hals’
By Anne Norman (Flickr) [CC-BY-2.0], via Wikimedia Commons

[Jesus said to his disciples:] “Learn from the way the wild flowers grow. They do not work or spin. But I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was clothed like one of them. If God so clothes the grass of the field, which grows today and is thrown into the oven tomorrow, will he not much more provide for you, O you of little faith?” Matthew 6:28b-30

Have faith in God’s care and comfort. Have faith in God’s tender compassion. Have faith in God’s unchanging, unconditional love. Have faith in our own reflection of God’s love and goodness.

The heart of it

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va05[Jesus said,] “For where your treasure is, there also will your heart be.” Luke 12:34

The heart leads where the mind is afraid to go. The heart trusts what the mind cannot make sense of. The heart opens and welcomes when the mind stays closed and isolated.

The heart knows sorrow, experiences compassion, abounds in forgiveness. The heart recognizes God in the faces of all people, finds God in the beauty of the natural world, discovers God in silence. The heart shines out love, expands in gratitude, heals with grace.

 

Martha and Mary

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Johannes_(Jan)_Vermeer_-_Christ_in_the_House_of_Martha_and_Mary_-_Google_Art_Project

Luke 10:38-42
Johannes (Jan) Vermeer – Christ in the House of Martha and Mary, 1654
Google Art Project
Wikimedia Commons

I tend to be like Martha –  keeping busy, doing the laundry, making a meal, getting the groceries, rushing to work, paying the bills, checking my email… and welcoming friends and even strangers who need a listening ear.

On the other hand, I tend to be like Mary – taking time to ponder the things of God. I love to sit on my step and look at the trees and feel the Holy Spirit wind. I love to walk on the beach and feel the rhythm of the ocean and watch the sea gulls soaring. I love to talk to friends and hear their stories and insights about life. I love having time to do nothing in particular except be.

Jesus is right: Mary has chosen the better part. But he didn’t say that Martha’s part isn’t good or necessary. I think he is giving me a gentle reminder about balance. If I am a spiritual being in human form, then I need to consciously place my spirit in the presence of God every day.