"For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead..." Romans 1:20

Sunday, May 19, 2013

Into the Woods: Blossoms

This Phlox, which grows at the edge of our property in a small clearing in our woods, is about to bloom....

"In nature, we are quietly given countless modes of how to give ourselves over to what appears dark & hopeless, but which ultimately is an awakening that is beyond all imagining.  This moving through the dark into blossom is the threshold to God.....The courage of the seed is that once cracking, it cracks all the way....By opening fully to our own experiences, we can feel and see the resilience of life around us...So the purpose of full attention is to invite through personal surrender the particular example of life force in whatever is around us to show itself:  a truth of being for a truth of being.  Look for something that resembles your pain.  It might be a bottle abandoned once broken, or a slim branch splitting, or a fence sagging.  It could be a shrub aching to bloom." --Mark Nepo

"And then the day came when the risk to remain tight in a bud was more painful than the risk to bloom."   --Anais Nin

I discovered this 6' x 10' patch of Phlox a few years ago when I took one of my infrequent walks through the woods.  Now that the woods have been cleared of debris, after living here for 32 years, I can actually see them off in the distance from the window by my desk....

Every day we are discovering something new in our cleaned-up woods.  There are ferns I didn't know about, a huge patch of Periwinkle, beautiful boulders with interesting crags, very old bottles from an era past, and for the first time we realize how much our property climbs in elevation--the vista from the edge of the property is amazing!

Very often our discoveries in life come because we're in pain and are searching for a way out of it.  I entered my adult life with the mindset to avoid pain, little understanding that pain was an inevitable part of growing.  But like the hard work that has been put into making our woods an inviting place to be, with all the attending muscle aches, the hard work of growing in love, with its attending heartache, has its rewards.  We revel every day at what's been uncovered!  And to think it's been here all along.

Father, thank you for the lessons You've taught me through our woods.  A rose bud that refuses to open is called a "bullet" by florists and tossed aside. Because it has turned on itself so tightly it can never release its fragrance.  I don't want to be one of those bullets.  May I unfurl and blossom.  May my fragrance be sweet and pleasing to You. 

Link to scripture: 2 Corinthians 2:14

Take action:  A Meditation Prayer

"Breathe slowly and let your breath draw whatever is budding in you to the surface of your life." --Mark Nepo 

                           

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