Clouds keep blowing through, threatening rain but not delivering it. Both the crops and our comfort are crying out for a storm, to soak the ground and cut the humidity. So I was drawn to this photo of clouds at sunset taken by my friend Sarah in the Amazon. I love how the sunset is reflected n the clouds, creating a real life watercolor. I imagine the colors changing moment by moment, as Sarah and her group floats down the Amazon in boats that ride low in the water. I particularly like how the clouds are mirrored in the river, slightly distorted by the ripples on the surface. It seems like they could see forever, until the clouds came to a point in the distance. The way we see this sky is a lot like how we view our lives. Here and now there are too many options, an illusion of infinite choice. The further we look toward the future, the less we can see or even imagine. Our view becomes obscured, or limited by what we see now. Perhaps we feel so overwhelmed that we are unable to make any choice. We float along the same path, hoping life will be different although we simply do the same things, again and again. Yet if we turn inward, and pause to reflect, we know the path ahead, deep inside of our hearts. We understand that God works in all things for the good of those who love Him. All paths lead toward God, who sees and knows the innermost workings of our heart. Take time today to look inward, to allow the Holy Spirit to fill your heart and guide your soul. Then take that leap of faith to follow your heart, trusting that God has prepared more for you than you can imagine, or even hope for. Photo by Sarah Gulick
Reflecting on Choice….
01 Aug 2011 Leave a comment
in Reflecting on...... Tags: beauty, challenge, faith, growth, journey, Sarah Gulick
Reflecting on Community….
18 Jul 2011 1 Comment
in Reflecting on...... Tags: beauty, blessings, commitment, community, faith, journey
It’s summer and folks are heading out of town. Some of us are visiting family, or going on long journeys. Others simply head out for a day trip or long weekend. There are so many awesome photos that it has been difficult to choose just one to reflect upon. So what caught my eye today was the number of photos of old bridges. My cousin Diane took this photo of a masonry bridge while driving along the back roads in Bucks County, PA. These arches remind me of the ruins at Fountains Abbey, a World Heritage site in England. Originally built in 1132, the abbey is amazingly well preserved. While living in England, we attended a service in the cellarium celebrating 2000 years of Christianity. The monks built a beautiful and incredibly strong cellarium, entirely made of arches, simply to store food. An arch is strong because it distributes the weight above it. Masons have been building arches since ancient times. It has been said that if you understand how to build an arch, you can build anything. So is it any wonder we are drawn to these old bridges with arches? It seems to me that Christian community is a lot like an arch. Each member, each brick, takes on a little of the load. The burdens that can be shared by many together far exceed the burdens that can be carried by each one alone. Brick upon brick, burden upon burden, can be piled on top, without compromising the community. Yet the community, like the arch, must maintain a delicate balance. If the arch is pulled in too close, or stretched out too far, it fails. A healthy community also must learn to find that delicate balancing point. We need to be connected, but not too close. Sometimes the person with the most insight is part of your community, but not your immediate circle. The distance allows a more balanced perspective, a different view of the situation from those closest to us. Take time today to reach out to those in your Christian community. Offer to be there for someone else, to just listen. Be respectful of one another, accepting that now may not be the time to open up. And remember that like the arch, we must remain connected to be strong, not too close, but also not too far away. Photo by Diane Brooks Myers
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fountains_Abbey
Reflecting on Commitment….
15 Jul 2011 Leave a comment
in Reflecting on...... Tags: blessings, commitment, faith, journey, love, marriage
Today is our 22nd wedding anniversary. So I looked through old photos, of other times and other places. This photo was taken by my dear friend Pam Nelson, in Hermosa Beach, CA, not long after we started dating in 1986. It was a very late night, and Pam asked us to stop before heading up to Mark’s apartment to take this photo. Since then, we have lived Michigan, Colorado, England and Virginia. Our daughter Tori came into our lives 16 years ago. Both my parents have passed away, my father in our own home. A lot has changed over the past 25 years, yet the important things remain the same. Marriage is a covenant relationship, first and foremost a promise to God that you will remain committed to one another. It means sticking together, no matter what. I have heard folks say getting married is a leap of faith, but perhaps it would be better to say staying married is a journey of many leaps of faith. You may not be moving across the country or overseas, yet life throws you for a loop. Jobs change, families change, children grow up. Each time you are sure you have things figured out, it all changes. So I am blessed beyond measure to have my dear husband Mark faithfully at my side these past 25 years. He told me this morning that he was thankful that I was a patient woman, patient enough to stay married to him all this time. I would say the same thing about him. Take time today to consider what commitment means to you. Let that special someone know what they mean to you, and pray for the Holy Spirit to bless and protect your relationship, today and always. Photo by Pam Nelson
Reflecting on Faith….
14 Jul 2011 1 Comment
in Reflecting on...... Tags: awe, challenge, faith, growth, journey, Poisson random walk
There are times when we are not sure where we are headed. We simply put one foot in front of the other, continuing along one step at a time. Yet in this simple forward motion we demonstrate a faith in the future, we cling to hope that more and better things await us. Life would be simple if that path was a straight line. More often, it is a seemingly endless path of twists and turns. So I was drawn to this photo of a tangled tree, taken by my friend David in Connecticut. This tree is a monument of faith, constantly striving toward the sun, the source of life. In engineering, there is a mathematical representation of such growth, called a Poisson random walk. It is a contradiction in terms, really. We usually describe events as either random or not, yet this mathematical construct combines both ideas. In a Poisson random walk, each step is a random choice, yet there is no backtracking. What seems to be a series of random steps always leads to the same destination. Yet each time, a different path leads to the same place. As a young engineering student, I felt that faith was a lot like that path, and this tree. Each step leads us toward our God and Creator, the source of all life and light. Because the path is not straight, each step is a tiny leap of faith, trusting that you are going in the right direction, even when your ultimate goal is not in sight. Even if we do take a wrong step, God transforms those diversions into greater glory. Take time today to consider where you are, and what your next step will be. Trust that while you may not be able to see the whole journey, our Lord and Savior sees all. And know that our God, who is, and was, and will be forever more, is always drawing us toward Him. Photo by David Buckwalter
Reflecting on Homecoming….
28 Jun 2011 Leave a comment
in Reflecting on...... Tags: homecoming, journey, labyrinth
Yesterday 
my daughter Tori returned home after a week-long trip to Minnesota. A bus load of high school youth, from across Virginia, Maryland and West Virginia, shared a long bus ride to attend the Episcopal Youth Event, held on the campus of Bethel University. The bus arrived later than expected, so I walked the labyrinth while I waited. Pilgrims of old who could not travel to the Holy Land would travel to a cathedral like Chartres to walk a labyrinth. This labyrinth is next to a very busy road with a bus stop, so at first the traffic noises were distracting. I was impatient to see Tori after a week away, so each time a bus pulled up, I thought her bus had arrived. Yet very quickly, all those distractions fell away and I became absorbed in the labyrinth. Unlike a maze, a labyrinth has one way in, and one way out. The path reverses itself often, and leads you to the edge just before arriving in the center. Just as I departed the labyrinth, the bus arrived. The youth alternated between greeting their parents and one last round of hugs amongst each other. It seemed this farewell was a lot like the labyrinth. Homecoming is always bittersweet, especially when a trip is packed with happy memories. We are so happy to be home, yet unwilling to let go of our recent experiences and new found friends. Tori commented on how different the return trip on the bus was from the trip out. In the beginning of the journey, the youth did not know each other well, and stuck with a few friends they already knew. On the way back, everyone kept switching seats, because they all had become friends. So it is with homecomings. We return home with new friends, new experiences, new perspectives. Perhaps homecoming is a lot like the labyrinth, seeing the same things from different perspectives, integrating what you have learned into familiar settings, that somehow seem different, yet the same. Take time today to reflect on what homecoming means to you, or on a journey that changed your perspective, and perhaps even the course of your life. Reach out to a friend that shared that journey, and those memories. Or perhaps, to walk a labyrinth. Photo, and labyrinth, by St Luke’s Episcopal Church, Bethseda, MD
Seek the Sacred Amidst the Ordinary 