Come Forth

Just a little note. Today in the Orthodox Church we read one of my favourite gospels. I love the story of the raising of Lazarus and could write on many aspects of this piece, but I won't. I will only speak about the end where Jesus call to his friend who is dead to come forth. While I may not be dead in its clinical sense, parts of me are dead or not alive, not turned toward that which will give me fullness of life. Just like Lazarus, I am called forth, yet somehow I would rather remain in tomb than live the fullness that life has given me. We are all called forth. Let us come forth and live.

Plans

Looking at opportunities for the summer. Last year I planned, but life happened. I don't regret it because new opportunities opened for me. I was able to photograph my parents home from late spring to mid-summer which was a real treat. This year, I hope to be able to photograph alley ways of Hamilton. I have never seen alleys like this. They often scare me which in a weird way I take as an indication that I need to do something. Will be looking for partners to photograph with in the darker alleys of Hamilton. (Safety first!) Love that even in the deep dark alley, I need only look up to see the light. Things are changing in my life and work. I look forward to what comes next.

Today

Today most traditional Christians celebrate the Annunciation. In the Orthodox tradition, the hymn of the day, the Tropar, starts with "Today is the beginning of our salvation". Today. Now. How can something that is suppose to have happen in the past be today? We enter into the narrative, we put on the glasses of the text through which we see our lives. For those in the Orthodox Church, today is the day of the beginning of the nativity narratives. Today we celebrate that God became one of us so that we can become like him, not him, but like him. That means we get to do what he does. That means we get to change the world through love of neighbor, through selfless acts, through emptying ourselves so that others might live. Not easy. One of my favorite Christmas sermons said that the incarnation was like the baker becoming the cake. I like that. It gives the illogical nature of what we proclaim in a simple image. How can this be true? No logic. None. If anyone tells you there is logic in this, they either do not understand, or are deceiving themselves and you. Yet, we affirm that today is the beginning of our salvation, of our hope, of our being able to enter into the life of the gospel . Today we enter into love.

Crocus Time of Spring

Seems like yesterday we were deep in the stillness of winter, holding on tight and waiting for the promise of spring and new life. I love the crocus because she bursts forth from the ground before most other plants dare to and proclaim the coming spring. I look forward each year to the first cocus to come up. I am warmed by the promise that Spring is almost here and the troubles of winter will soon pass.

Kind words in a time of trouble or acts of love have this effect on me. Sometimes in the winters of my life, sweet words or acts of love let me know that I am not left alone in a deep winter where there is no hope and no connection. I know then that the snow will melt or even that I am not alone waiting for the snow to melt. Cold weather might still be in the future, but it is going to pass. Joy will come again. Things will grow and bear fruit, just like it always does. I have been through such a winter. I am in the corcus time of spring, and I thank all for their kind words and acts of love that have seen me through this winter to remember.

Stillness

Is it any wonder that in the middle of the winter we dress our homes with color and light. The Winter can be so bleak, yet, only in the stillness we can hear that small voice in our hearts leading us on the path. How natural our lives are in their cycles. When we allow ourselves to accept the cycles and listen to the still soft voice, when we take our life as a journey and an adventure, we then begin to learn the lessons we are meant to learn. Sometimes the lessons are big and require a time of dormancy when we can focus our lives to listen to the lesson. What a better time to listen than in the winter when the snow falls and that special quiet fills the earth around us? That stillness of the snow fall, is the stillness often times required to hear the voice in our hearts. May we all when we find ourselves in a deep winter of our life path, stop and listen with an open heart and mind to the voice of truth that may be trying to get our attention.

In the Scripture it says, "Be still and know that I am the God"

Winter in all her furry and bleakness still give us such beauty for comfort and joy. I remember the first time I realized that even in the darkness of winter we have such wonderful colors. For me, it is like this in grief and hardship I see the beauty and the beauty takes me through. I count them as gifts. The journey I have been on this last year has taken me to places of despair and pain I have not known before, but along with these pains and trails, I have had beauty and joy. I say joy for specific reasons. I believe joy dispels fear and despair. I believe it revives the soul. I have understood more and felt emotions more, or at least to a greater degree or depth, but I have seen greater beauty in my brother and sister as well as the events of my journey. In the frozen winter of my journey or even of the season we have found ourselves, I recall the beauty that surrounds me every day. While too much ice can cause tree loss or power outages, still in the natural beauty we are reminded that there can be joy in the depths of our pain.

Freedom

Freedom. I feel free today. I feel freer today because I saw something in my life that was not right and was able to let go of it in love. Freedom for me is a process, and might be for most of us who don't know what binds us. When I see something in my life that is hurting me and those around me, I thank God that I am able to let go of it. Sometime, often times, I need the help of someone near to me that I trust to help me see it and then let it go. Freedom means forgiveness, love and responsibility for actions taken in the past. I love freedom and desire that all can live in freedom.