God Talk and Tea

The weed tree and the street sign

 During an amazing family drive across country from New Jersey to Montana many years ago, we   were often spellbound by the magnificence of creation. At once, both complex and elegant in its simplicity, creation reflected the nature of its Creator – unlimited generosity, love and potential. The palette of living color and form we discovered at every turn seemed to us the efforts of God continually gifting God’s beloved children.

 Today, back at home, as I reflect on the weed tree that has managed to grow up between the cracks of cement and into the narrow metal track of a street sign over which it now casts a shadow, I am reminded again of the potential of life, and, therefore, of each of God’s children. As apples falling from God’s tree, we are each endowed with God’s potential and creative nature.

 Sadly, for innumerable reasons, many of us forget our divine inheritance. Our potential goes unmet, even, unrecognized. Our creative nature is often sublimated, but like the tree in the street sign, will struggle to break out in one way or another. Without that opportunity for release, we may find ourselves being strangled by the very life that seeks expression.

We are meant to live our divine nature, to live in communion with our God and each other. Our lives, and our world, would be released from bondage if we could recover our sense of being sacred and develop an awareness that wholeness and holiness are one and the same.  

 

Image Source Page: http://www.greenchicafe.com/tree-art-in-australia

Taking one step at a time

I have always admired Dorothy Day. Her strength and commitment to all she believed continues to   inspire people the world over. Her words are encouraging to me on many occasions, especially when I am  doubting the value of some work I am undertaking. She wrote, "People say, 'What is the sense of our small effort? They cannot see that we must lay one brick at a time, take one step at a time."

It is easy to be overwhelmed by the needs of the world, the community, our poor, even our families; so much so that we never move out in faith to fill any of those needs. But every journey begins with the first step. The journey of faith is no different. If God can feed thousands with a few loaves of bread and some fish why do we doubt what God can do with our meager efforts?

I think God has more faith in us than we have in ourselves.

(Adapted from The Heart's Garden. A limited supply of this small reflection journal is still available. Send $5, which includes postage, to Mary Morrell, 436 Fairview Ave., Colonia, NJ 07067. Include your name, address, contact number or email address.)

Catching up...

The past three weeks have been full of work and, finally, vacation without Internet access, all of which have been a factor in my falling behind with posts. I wondered what I might share that would be short but meaningful, as I try to catch up. Then I noticed, again, the small inspirational poster hanging near my computer and given to me by a friend who understands how important inspiration is to a writer. The words belong to Joan Chittister: "Our role in life is to bring the light of our own souls to the dark places around us."

I think about her words a lot, especially when I am grappling with just what it is I am supposed to be doing with my life. I wonder how many of us are truly aware of the light of our souls, and the difference each one of us can make in the world if we let our light shine.

Today, in one of my favorite books, The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron, I read something related: "One of the chief barriers to accepting God’s generosity is our limited notion of what we are in fact able to accomplish. We may tune in to the voice of the creator within, hear a message—and then discount it as crazy or impossible. On the one hand, we take ourselves very seriously and don’t want to look like idiots pursuing some patently grandiose scheme. On the other hand, we don’t take ourselves—or God—seriously enough and so we define as grandiose many schemes that, with God’s help, may fall well within our grasp."

Today, it seems, is the day to spend some time reflecting on possibilities.