Dear TSJ Friends,
(Please remember if reading this on your phones click on the top green header for ease of reading!)
Even though this is going to arrive too late in the day for Wednesday words of wisdom to propel you into this day, rest assured Solomon has been working happily here in our TSJ office to get me to at least peek in to share our thoughts of hope.
But first you may like to know I am working on a series of blogs I think you will enjoy on Growing Older (we all are) and the Gifts of Aging.
Today, however, we are taking a moment to celebrate compelling and tangible reasons for hope and renewal – especially this year!
First, it is good that vaccines are now being widely distributed to help protect us from the COVID-19 virus and its mutations. John has had both of his and I get my second one on Friday.
Second, something wonderful and often taken for granted, but happens every year at this time . . . spring has come again!
Yes, we are already seeing signs of new life working its magic in our hearts and minds. People are friendlier and positive energy is in the air again.
It has struck me this year in a new way that Mother Nature gladly receives nourishment from above to recreate itself for a new season. It soaks in the sun and the rain and does so unencumbered with existential questions or worries.
Nature does not ask, “Who am I?” or “Why am I here?”
Nature has one focus and that is to live and give life!
That being said, I am naturally grateful to be a human (as complex and perplexing as that often can be)!
But I am also grateful Nature is here to nurture our souls and feed our bodies so we too can live and give life. Nature is the physical expression of love and provision from God. And we are blessed with five senses to apprehend the many things that nature offers us.
Nature serves us. It both sustains life with food and water and quietly offers medicine for our wounded and perplexed hearts. I cannot count the number of times a beloved dog has heard my woes! Or the trees have listened to my petitions. When I was a troubled child I called out to the hills and they echoed my laments and my praise. I often felt hugged by the hills around our homestead.
Without words – through Nature- God invites us to use our five senses to discover the sacred within us. When I even just walk out back to feed the birds I immediately sense God’s Presence.
Nature sets the example of living for the sake of living. And we too are here to live and give love and thanks for the sake of truly living.
And as one who embraces the Christian faith and celebrates this season of Lent and Easter, I am again compelled to contemplate such things as the power of life over death, love over hate, forgiveness for all who seek it, grace in our sufferings, and eternal hope through the pure Love of Christ. Nature itself wraps God’s Love around our hearts through the playfulness of puppies and fawns, the beauty of flowers, the awe of sunrises and sunsets and the power of winds and waves.
So this week I simply want to thank God for giving us a beautiful world to play in.
And you, dear TSJ friends, are part of this beautiful world. I am so thankful for you and how you live full-out your own messages of love as parents and teachers and leaders. You are all God’s voice of hope in this world.
Ever onward on the path of hope, muse Solomon and I are looking forward to sharing with you stories about the upside (even joy) of growing older. I will avoid the aches and pains part. 🙂
But for now, let’s play in the pastures of life knowing we are in Good Hands with the Good Shepherd of Love and Hope.
Margie
