Listen to some good music

Music is well said to be the speech of angels.
                                                                 Thomas Carlyle

A Splash of Color

"A Splash of Color"  copyright 2011, C. Schroeder, All rights reserved.

The day brings us such interesting things.  Sometimes we go along in our lives, almost bored with things, and then a splash of color catches our eye, and there is magic again.  Yesterday was full of such color for me, and I felt alive all morning, tingling with the excitement of the magic.  To begin with, we had quite a lovely dusting of snow, and my early morning drive over to a nearby village, was absolutely breathtaking.  The sun was breaking through a heavy fog, and the result was exquisite.  (What a day to have forgotten my camera!)  Then on the way, on the side of the road in a field, about 7 or 8 feet from the car, was a huge bird.  As I got closer I saw it was a bald eagle which had caught something.

Later that morning as I was driving to the grocery store, there was a gull in the middle of the road, just sitting there.  I'd seen this kind of thing before.  After I had parked the car, I took a blanket and walked back to where the gull was sitting in the middle of all that traffic.  The poor thing was terrified and scooted away from me, revealing an ugly mess of intestines on the cement.  (sorry for the graphic description, but it's important you are aware of it for the story.)  She was so beautiful, white with brown speckles.  I spoke gently to her, trying to calm her, and then threw the blanket over her and gathered her up in my arms, trying to be very careful of her injuries and carried her back to my car.

Taking the gull to the vet was a little bit of a drive, and so on the way over, I laid my hand very carefully on the blanket and prayed for her.  She wasn't fighting or moving much.  I asked St. Francis for some help.  He's a particular friend of mine, and doesn't seem to mind that I'm not Catholic.  My cd was playing as I've been trying to bone up on lyrics for a concert coming up, it was on "Good Shepherd of my Soul."    And the car seemed full of a quiet, loving presence

We arrived at the vet and I carefully gathered the gull back up into my arms and took her into the building.  I spoke with a young woman, and soon someone had come to get the bird and take her into the back room.  I waited a few minutes and the young woman came out with my blanket.   She had a puzzled look on her face.

"So, did you see the bird get hit?"

"No.  She was sitting in the middle of the road.  But couldn't fly when I approached her, and there was a mess on the road."

"There was no blood, no broken bones.  There doesn't seem to be anything wrong with it at all."

I must have looked a bit skeptical.

"We'll keep her in the icu for a while and see how she does.  Maybe it's just the cold and she was tired.   If she is injured, which doesn't appear to be the case, we'll find a bird rehabilitator.  Thanks for bringing her in."

And I left.  Puzzled myself.  Until finally, several hours later, telling the story to a friend, another possibility entered into the picture.  Maybe a miracle.

Not very scientific of me.  And there must have been another explanation, right?  There had to be.  And yet...that "buzz" from earlier in the morning hadn't left me.  Magic?  God's intervention for a little bird?  I don't know.  It sounds wildly implausible.  But I'm given to believing in the impossible.  This Jesus I follow has a way of surprising me.

Hmmmm.  What do you think?

The day continued with other minor miracles, and best friend JS arrived for a pillow fight which left me laughing heartily.  And then I collapsed, so tired I could barely move.  What an amazing day.

I wonder what today will hold!!!  Adventures are waiting.

Waking Up

"just waking up"  Copyright 2011, C. Schroeder, all rights reserved

Waking up
to this precious thing
called life.

Opening
to the miracle
of today.

Beginning
in new ways
to find my way home

to myself
to eternity
and to love.

Blinking, adjusting
my eyes to the bright light
struggling to see

The friend
right there in front of me
smiling

The adventure
there before us
in unknown opportunity

Put on your shoes
let's go
it's time.

True Roots

"At Water's Edge"  copyright 2011, C. Schroeder, All Rights Reserved

Many of us feel a deep sense of connection to "place."  Some of us were born in the place, some of us came to it later in life.  The passing seasons, the changes, the losses and the joys, the successes and failures are all tied up in the package of place.  The landscape becomes the literal landscape of our lives. This photo will remind me of the many walks I have taken in this place, the troubles, the joys, the friendships which it has brought to me. 

Place can be a wonderful thing, but our deepest roots should be in God's grace and love.  Then we'll be like the tree planted at the water's edge.  We will have what we need to flourish in our lives, to grow into our full potential.  We can't be uprooted when we immerse ourselves in the landscape of the Spirit.  Even if we are flung to the far reaches of this planet, to places which are strange and unfamiliar to us.  God is immovable.  God's presence permeates everything in this world.  So if we are rooted there, it doesn't matter where we are.  We have what we need.  And we can allow ourselves to go where God leads. 

It took a 40 year walk in the wilderness for the Israelites to begin to understand that fact.  If they had moved right into the promised land, their dependence would be upon something other than God.  But because their roots, their identity, their strength was in the Eternal and Loving God, the material gifts were just that.  Material.  Temporary.  

Beyond the Now

"A Blue Dawn"   Copyright 2011, C. Schroeder, all rights reserved

There is something slightly out of focus here, and the scene feels soft and muted because of the mist.  The effect is lovely.  I especially love the reflection in the water. 

Our life here could be a reflection of something clearer, something beyond now, something that holds a bit of mystery, and yet faith helps us to know that the mystery is part of the story, part of the fun.  When we become too immersed in hard cold facts, we lose something of truth.  We become stuck and unable to open to growth and change.  Of course, if we get too caught up in the mystery and the not yet, we become out of balance.  Walking in the present with opened eyes to the realities of this world, while keeping a part of ourselves connected and rooted in the not yet, the eternal, gives us balance.

Many years ago now I had this beautiful dream one night.  I was walking in a place that looked like Israel.  I had walked up a steep hill, and I stopped to gaze off into the distance, where there was a city.  Perhaps Jerusalem?  The view was a strange one.  It was almost as though I were seeing double.  There were two cities superimposed upon each other.  And from different positions, I could see each of them, and at times they became one.  but one of them was clearer, and it was shining with the gold of the sun.  And I knew it was heaven.   And I knew there was something true and glorious in that dream.  God felt near. 

I am not certain as to why this comes to mind this morning, but I want to see this world from both perspectives, with a willingness to dig in and get my hands dirty and all the while, with a clear connection in that beautiful, mysterious "not yet." 

copyright 2011, C. Schroeder, All rights reserved.

 

 

 

What a sunrise this morning!  What a gorgeous, mysterious, morning of color and mist and cold air!!

May your day be full of the gorgeous, the mysterious, and the many colors of grace!  

Acceptance

Accepting what comes to our lives and accepting what goes from us, enables us to be present and to be at peace.  The rain falls, and though the flowers look droopy when it does, it is wonderful for their growth.  And when the sun shines, it is wonderful for their growth. 

Whatever life may bring us can be wonderful for our growth.  That doesn't mean it is easy.  But if we are willing to open ourselves to it, accept what it is, as it is, the struggle doesn't need to be as intensely overwhelming.  We can find peace. 

The sun is shining through a bit today, and I'm feeling better than I was yesterday.  I accepted the pain of yesterday, accepted my limitations in it, and today I accept that I have more to give to my packing up and moving on.  Or maybe I will take a walk with my camera!  Since these photos are older ones. 

The truth is however, that sometimes we wrestle with reality.  I think it makes it more difficult for those around us as well as ourselves.  As I age, opening my heart to the changes, instead of railing against them, enables me to move through my days with more grace, and a more restful feeling. 

May you find peace in the acceptance today.  May you find grace.  And may there be some laughter in the midst of it all.