America, the Beautiful

There's a particular kind of nostalgia that comes with celebrating the semiquincentennial of the United States when you're among those who remember the bicentennial like it was yesterday. Who possess a bicentennial quarter and realize it's fifty years old, and it still feels freshly minted. 

I'm struggling to assign my recollective mood a better name than "How Did I Get So Old?" Or "Why did bicentennial roll off your tongue so easily and the word for 250 seems so complicated?" Or "How has my one little lifetime spanned over twenty percent of the life of my country?"

Since I'm in the camp of those who remember where I was fifty years ago, I'm offering my memory, aided by the sweetest keepsake my sister ever gave me, because she was my counselor at camp that 4th of July--Young Life's Castaway to be exact. It was monumental because I got up the courage to fly, literally and figuratively--it's when I consciously placed my life in God's hands. I am eternally grateful.

I love the prayer poem she included by Rev. Herb Brokering.  It's how I'm celebrating today. By appreciating the incredible experience of life I've enjoyed in this country, and thanking God for all who have made it possible. By trusting Him with where we are, and where we're going.  By praying that he might make one out of the beautiful many. By offering myself toward that end. 

Happy 250th Birthday, America!!!

Lost

I lost my husband today. 

 

Or maybe he lost me, it's hard to say for sure. 

 

 

It happened on the walking trail along the river near our home. The Jazzy Trail, no less. 

 

In April, we moved from the thawing Minnesota tundra straight into the summer furnace of North Carolina, like crazy people. I'm far from acclimated to walking in the early morning sun, starting at 76º and rising several degrees as we go. I can better withstand 6º, because, you know, you can always put more clothes on. The past few weeks, we've been coping by taking all the clothes off we possibly can (without making it terribly uncomfortable for others), and hitting the pool for our daily dose of exercise.

So imagine my delight to wake this morning to a cloudy sky and a cool breeze that offered a legitimate chance to enjoy the scenery along the river bank. I grabbed my husband and my camera, and we headed out.

Photographers are hopeful people.  If you see us with a camera in our hand, we're on a treasure hunt, definitely expecting to find something good.  Lee is completely capable of entertaining himself with little public service projects along the way, while I am distracted with such pursuits.  We had agreed to walk as far as the kayak landing, maybe a mile from the trailhead.

In my head "the kayak landing" included the mimosa tree just beyond the kayaks, and of cource the place on the river right after that, where the waterfowl fish for breakfast.  Obviously.

The problem in that area is that there are a lot of visual barriers, and Lee never caught up with me. By the time we were really looking for each other, we might as well have been on opposite ends of a crowded grocery store.  We would have found each other much sooner.  

As I searched for Lee, I was thinking of that time in the gospel of Luke when Jesus's parents lost track of him on their journey back home from the Passover Feast in Jerusalem.  Jesus had gotten intently focused on conversations about the Torah with the teachers at the temple, and missed the departure.  He seemed genuinely surprised that they didn't know exactly where to find him, as they understood his preoccupation.  (Have you ever noticed when they found him? On the third day. It's kind of a thing in the Bible.)

Lee understands my preoccupation with beauty, and he wasn't the least bit exasperated when our paths finally rejoined this morning.  I'm so glad we found each other.  He's a keeper.

Also? I'm thankful that seeking beauty in creation points me right back into noticing the presence of the God who made it all.  It's easy in this noisy world to lose sight of who he is, but he loves to surprise us with his kindness if we'll keep looking until we find him.  He made me--I'd be lost without him.

The World Beyond

"Surely the Lord is in this place, and I was not aware of it." Genesis 28:16

Just beyond what we can see

 lies a breathtaking world that is altogether real.  

It's not far.  It's right here.

It's not that it's imperceptible--

it's just that we don't see it, 

we won't see it, 

if we carry on as usual.

It may be under the surface, around the corner. 
Above our heads, beneath our feet. 
Visible from behind us if we would slow down and turn around for a minute.  

Possibly right there on the kitchen table. 
Or in the eyes of the person coming towards us in the grocery aisle.

The light on the details is an invitation to delight.  
What does the Light want to show you?

"Earth's crammed with heaven, 

and every common bush afire with God, 

but only he who sees

takes off his shoes."

~Elizabeth Barrett Browning~

"Take off your shoes, for you are standing on holy ground." Exodus 3:5

Whatever is True

It's been a disorienting week, to say the least, here in Minnesota.  Thousands of federal ICE agents have been deployed here, and it's a pressure cooker.  I've been trying to process it all, to find some clarity.  I admit, when I see people in power abusing the vulnerable it makes my blood boil, but there are so many conflicting issues in our situation that my head is spinning.

I looked out my window yesterday to see snowflakes flying in every direction.  They mirrored my inner world.  It looked like the temperature was helping the flakes hold their shape, so I decided to grab my camera and take a closer look.  I was not disappointed.  

Some were quite clear.  Others had frost attached to them, crystal upon crystal.  Some were in clumps, indistinguishable from one another. I took some photos even as the wind was whisking them away, amazed as I always am by what lies beyond what I can see--whether too small, too big, too far.  Sometimes things lie beyond my vision due to my lack of imagination and attention.  They are there whether I notice or not.

I returned to the warmth inside to see if any of my photos had done the flakes justice.  They're not perfect, but they demonstrate why it's worth taking a closer look at the snow.

After all of the news I've taken in, and conversations I've had this week, it all comes down to one thing. We were placed on this earth to take care of it, to take care of each other.  It's our calling, and our opportunity to live as God's partners on this earth.  Author Brad Montague says, "Whatever we pay attention to grows."  That's our calling--to look for beauty, to shine a light on it, to nurture it and to watch it grow.  When we focus on the right things, everything else falls away into the background.  

So after a week of subjecting myself to a lot of information--but also participating in a lot of helpful conversations that challenged my point of view and also encouraged me--I'm choosing to focus on what is beautiful.  If I look closely, it reminds me that there is so much more, just beyond view.

Praying for peace in this beautiful world God made.