You stop to admire a rose in full bloom, glowing with the colors of the sunset. You bury your nose in the blossom and inhale the rich scent. As you pull your face back you notice that one of the petals on this glorious rose is bent and bruised, that the rose is not, after all, perfect. Do you enjoy the rose any less for its flaw?
How do you move past flaws to find the glory in your day?
Look, the trees are turning their own bodies into pillars of light writes Mary Oliver. In the same way that the colors of a sunset get more intense before they fade to dark, autumn offers us nature’s brightest beauty before the dullness of winter takes over.
How has aging brought out the color and beauty in you or someone you love?
“We abuse land because we regard it as a commodity belonging to us. When we see land as a community to which we belong, we may begin to use it with love and respect.”
—Aldo Leopold
How do you experience yourself as being in community with the non-human world?
Most of us are familiar with the image of God in the clouds, sending His rays of glory down to the earth. But one could just as easily find the Holy in the steadfast rocks or the green and growing earth.
Where do you see the Divine?
Many hands working together can push a stalled car out of traffic, pull someone from a cliff to safety or get sand bags in place before the waters rise. But sometimes all we need is hand piled on hand, an expression of solidarity so that we know we are not alone.
How will you offer your hand in help or solidarity today?
