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Cherry Blossoms
Cherry Blossoms
Saturday, May 15, 2010
Tuesday, May 11, 2010
Adam and Eve
In pondering the Adam & Eve story yesterday, I came up with a new understanding of it. (I am so so grateful to Christian Science - so these stories we hear over & over yield up more gems just about every time we read them.) So, this gal, Eve, was in this garden with her husband. And along came "The whisperer" (a.k.a. "the talking serpent").
So "the whisperer" talks to Eve for a few moments, and for some reason, she starts accepting the thinking as her own. So she goes and does the stupid thing God specifically told her not to do. And God punishes her for the rest of her life. (O.k., so that's a very in-brief synopsis of the story - but that's what I need to share to tell what my insight was.)
--- the new insight ---
The last time or two ago that I heard the story, I found out the another meaning of the original word for "the serpent" was "the whisperer." Which had a profound affect on my understanding of the story. Just knowing that.
Well, yesterday as I was pondering the same story, remembering about "the whisperer," I was thinking "what are some of the whispers that we hear all the time...."
--pain
--slow
--hurry up!
--traffic
--too much to do
--angry
--skin problems
--sick
--breast-cancer research
--starvation / world hunger
--lack --(etc.) And these are ALL whispers.
And if we listen to them, we will be punished by the belief of making these our own. If, however, we recognize them for what they are, they are just whispers. They are not real thoughts from God. We should just walk away and turn towards a better understanding of God to help us learn more about God and thus, more about ourselves. Now, I know this is what I've taught Sunday School students a lot, so this may seem sort of basic, I don't know if I'm translating all this with the best words to exemplify my thoughts. I guess, as I type it, what I'm realizing is that I just grasped a higher view of all of this. --- In other words --- The whisperer is constantly whispering at us in many forms.
If we take a hold of it and think of it as "my thoughts" (insert your own name -- "Jodi's thoughts" or "[my] thoughts") then we will be punished for it. "The belief in sin is punished so long as the belief lasts" says Mary Baker Eddy. --- This morning --- Yesterday, I thought about posting all of this. This morning I was sort of refreshing my thoughts so I could post it today. And I had another thought about the story: Punishing Eve for taking a bite of a piece of fruit - punishing her for the REST OF HER LIFE is pretty extreme.
I don't think that our God (the God that Christian Sciences teaches us more and more about every day) would do such a thing. So this allegory had a new "sense of false-ness" (like that word?) to me today. The story HAS to be false, because God would never do such a thing. So the moment we turn towards the whisperer and do or think what it says, we will be punished. So the moment we turn away from the whisperer and turn towards God, that is the moment we have no punishment. I, for one, want no punishment. Hopefully, you all will agree with me there!! Every day I strive to learn more about God, and many days I succeed. Hopefully there will come a point in my life when every day I learn something new about God - after all, God is infinite! Why shouldn't I be able to learn something new and radical and awesome and cool about God?? With sincerest love (and I hope I was able to translate the higher view I have of this as of yesterday)
So "the whisperer" talks to Eve for a few moments, and for some reason, she starts accepting the thinking as her own. So she goes and does the stupid thing God specifically told her not to do. And God punishes her for the rest of her life. (O.k., so that's a very in-brief synopsis of the story - but that's what I need to share to tell what my insight was.)
--- the new insight ---
The last time or two ago that I heard the story, I found out the another meaning of the original word for "the serpent" was "the whisperer." Which had a profound affect on my understanding of the story. Just knowing that.
Well, yesterday as I was pondering the same story, remembering about "the whisperer," I was thinking "what are some of the whispers that we hear all the time...."
--pain
--slow
--hurry up!
--traffic
--too much to do
--angry
--skin problems
--sick
--breast-cancer research
--starvation / world hunger
--lack --(etc.) And these are ALL whispers.
And if we listen to them, we will be punished by the belief of making these our own. If, however, we recognize them for what they are, they are just whispers. They are not real thoughts from God. We should just walk away and turn towards a better understanding of God to help us learn more about God and thus, more about ourselves. Now, I know this is what I've taught Sunday School students a lot, so this may seem sort of basic, I don't know if I'm translating all this with the best words to exemplify my thoughts. I guess, as I type it, what I'm realizing is that I just grasped a higher view of all of this. --- In other words --- The whisperer is constantly whispering at us in many forms.
If we take a hold of it and think of it as "my thoughts" (insert your own name -- "Jodi's thoughts" or "[my] thoughts") then we will be punished for it. "The belief in sin is punished so long as the belief lasts" says Mary Baker Eddy. --- This morning --- Yesterday, I thought about posting all of this. This morning I was sort of refreshing my thoughts so I could post it today. And I had another thought about the story: Punishing Eve for taking a bite of a piece of fruit - punishing her for the REST OF HER LIFE is pretty extreme.
I don't think that our God (the God that Christian Sciences teaches us more and more about every day) would do such a thing. So this allegory had a new "sense of false-ness" (like that word?) to me today. The story HAS to be false, because God would never do such a thing. So the moment we turn towards the whisperer and do or think what it says, we will be punished. So the moment we turn away from the whisperer and turn towards God, that is the moment we have no punishment. I, for one, want no punishment. Hopefully, you all will agree with me there!! Every day I strive to learn more about God, and many days I succeed. Hopefully there will come a point in my life when every day I learn something new about God - after all, God is infinite! Why shouldn't I be able to learn something new and radical and awesome and cool about God?? With sincerest love (and I hope I was able to translate the higher view I have of this as of yesterday)
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Wednesday, April 14, 2010
Saturday, April 10, 2010
Walking on the water without sinking
Years ago I moved into a neighborhood; my husband and I fell in love with the house in October or Novemeber, bid on the house (it was in foreclosure) and were able to move in some time between Christmas and New Years.
Imagine my surprise when, come Spring, we were surrounded by pink! The whole court turns beautiful shades of pink as the blossoms fill the tree branches overhead. It's like walking in billowy puffs of pink clouds. They provide shade, shelter, beauty, joy, fun...
People shake the branches gently over the children in the neighborhood and the kids laugh as they have pink "snow" fall on them.
Someone pointed out a few years into our living here that you never know how long the blossoms will last from year to year. You see, they are quite fragile. A good wind or rain will pelt them some time - and the blossoms will make the ground completely pink the next morning. No blossoms left on trees. Sometimes the blossoms last for weeks, one season every now and then, they only last a day or two.
Well, I started praying about this because I enjoy the blossoms so much and they are so short lived. We live here 52 weeks of the year, and 2-3 weeks (at the most) we have pink everywhere. It's just so joyous and happy, that I'd personally like for it to last as long as possible.
As I type this, at this moment, we're in prime cherry blossom season. I look out the window from my computer keyboard and I see the whole back deck engulfed by cherry tree limbs covered in pink blossoms.
The blossoms appeared probably 3 days ago. They bud for a day or two, then burst into color one morning. 2 days ago, we had a terribly windy day - and just pelts of rain. I had taken approximately 200 photos of blossoms for this blog so that I would have plenty of photos to use throughout the year to keep this blog feeling fresh and happy and colorful.
Well, as the rain and wind pelted the trees outside (I actually saw some trim on one of the houses billowing up and waving around violently in the wind - it was that bad), I stayed inside and felt grateful that I had taken those photos. I also felt grateful that we have the blossoms. I felt grateful that we have them still, even for short bouts. I just sat there, in my home, actively loving the blossoms.
I woke up the next morning and fully expected to see all of the blossoms on the sidewalk and in the yards. Pink walkways, un-touched by foot traffic in the morning (like freshly fallen pink snow). I walked to my bedroom window, pushed aside the curtains and... lo and behold - all the blossoms were still on the trees!! I rejoiced! They made it through the night! I stared at them in amazement - yesterday and today. All day I have been hanging out in their wondrous splendor. Watching my son play with neighbor children as we only went inside to drink water and use the bathroom.
I also just now realized... that for the last few weeks I have been actively praying to understand a story better - the one where Peter is walking on the water towards Jesus. Peter sees the wind and the waves around him. Peter is overcome by this display and he panics, and starts to sink. Jesus is completely un-touched by the display made by the wind and waves; Jesus reaches out his hand to save Peter. The example I follow, of course, is Jesus. To the best of my ability, every day I do my best to follow Jesus.
I have had many cruel things said to me in the last year, by thoughtless people. I admit, I've often cried for days and felt hated and reviled and tortured by these comments and the people who made them. I do not under any circumstance *want* to feel this way, and yet, here I have been, feeling hurt and harmed. So it came to me a few weeks ago to ponder the story of Peter sinking in the water. And I have just let it simmer in my head as I go about my life.
Moments before I sat down to write this post, I realized that the blossoms were pelted with what appeared to be angry, nasty wind and heavy rain. And yet - there they were - the next morning - completely un-touched. Un-harmed. Joyfully greeting me in the morning with their happy pink-ness. Looking at me - me looking at them with a renewed sense of awe, joy, appreciation, gratitude.
I have, yet again, learned from the cherry blossoms. That's why I've started this blog - to share all the good the cherry blossoms bring me every year.
When I am feeling attacked, I can just remember to weather the storm, and wake up looking joyful and refreshed and ready to greet the day. I don't need to get taken in by the angry outlook - it might look nasty and un-caring. But it doesn't have to harm me in the least. I don't need to feel abused or hurt - I don't need to leave Christ-like thinking even for an instance. I can stay in my pure Christ-like, loving thoughts, every moment, and stay on TOP of the water - untouched.
I am grateful.
(Thank you, God.)
Imagine my surprise when, come Spring, we were surrounded by pink! The whole court turns beautiful shades of pink as the blossoms fill the tree branches overhead. It's like walking in billowy puffs of pink clouds. They provide shade, shelter, beauty, joy, fun...
People shake the branches gently over the children in the neighborhood and the kids laugh as they have pink "snow" fall on them.
Someone pointed out a few years into our living here that you never know how long the blossoms will last from year to year. You see, they are quite fragile. A good wind or rain will pelt them some time - and the blossoms will make the ground completely pink the next morning. No blossoms left on trees. Sometimes the blossoms last for weeks, one season every now and then, they only last a day or two.
Well, I started praying about this because I enjoy the blossoms so much and they are so short lived. We live here 52 weeks of the year, and 2-3 weeks (at the most) we have pink everywhere. It's just so joyous and happy, that I'd personally like for it to last as long as possible.
As I type this, at this moment, we're in prime cherry blossom season. I look out the window from my computer keyboard and I see the whole back deck engulfed by cherry tree limbs covered in pink blossoms.
The blossoms appeared probably 3 days ago. They bud for a day or two, then burst into color one morning. 2 days ago, we had a terribly windy day - and just pelts of rain. I had taken approximately 200 photos of blossoms for this blog so that I would have plenty of photos to use throughout the year to keep this blog feeling fresh and happy and colorful.
Well, as the rain and wind pelted the trees outside (I actually saw some trim on one of the houses billowing up and waving around violently in the wind - it was that bad), I stayed inside and felt grateful that I had taken those photos. I also felt grateful that we have the blossoms. I felt grateful that we have them still, even for short bouts. I just sat there, in my home, actively loving the blossoms.
I woke up the next morning and fully expected to see all of the blossoms on the sidewalk and in the yards. Pink walkways, un-touched by foot traffic in the morning (like freshly fallen pink snow). I walked to my bedroom window, pushed aside the curtains and... lo and behold - all the blossoms were still on the trees!! I rejoiced! They made it through the night! I stared at them in amazement - yesterday and today. All day I have been hanging out in their wondrous splendor. Watching my son play with neighbor children as we only went inside to drink water and use the bathroom.
I also just now realized... that for the last few weeks I have been actively praying to understand a story better - the one where Peter is walking on the water towards Jesus. Peter sees the wind and the waves around him. Peter is overcome by this display and he panics, and starts to sink. Jesus is completely un-touched by the display made by the wind and waves; Jesus reaches out his hand to save Peter. The example I follow, of course, is Jesus. To the best of my ability, every day I do my best to follow Jesus.
I have had many cruel things said to me in the last year, by thoughtless people. I admit, I've often cried for days and felt hated and reviled and tortured by these comments and the people who made them. I do not under any circumstance *want* to feel this way, and yet, here I have been, feeling hurt and harmed. So it came to me a few weeks ago to ponder the story of Peter sinking in the water. And I have just let it simmer in my head as I go about my life.
Moments before I sat down to write this post, I realized that the blossoms were pelted with what appeared to be angry, nasty wind and heavy rain. And yet - there they were - the next morning - completely un-touched. Un-harmed. Joyfully greeting me in the morning with their happy pink-ness. Looking at me - me looking at them with a renewed sense of awe, joy, appreciation, gratitude.
I have, yet again, learned from the cherry blossoms. That's why I've started this blog - to share all the good the cherry blossoms bring me every year.
When I am feeling attacked, I can just remember to weather the storm, and wake up looking joyful and refreshed and ready to greet the day. I don't need to get taken in by the angry outlook - it might look nasty and un-caring. But it doesn't have to harm me in the least. I don't need to feel abused or hurt - I don't need to leave Christ-like thinking even for an instance. I can stay in my pure Christ-like, loving thoughts, every moment, and stay on TOP of the water - untouched.
I am grateful.
(Thank you, God.)
Thursday, April 8, 2010
Lessons from the blossoms
The lessons of the cherry blossoms that return year after year to my neck-of-the-woods have taught me so many spiritual lessons from year to year. In this blog, I consider the blossoms' lessons, as well as other spiritual insights I have every day that I enjoy and observe God's existence. I hope you will enjoy the blog. "Come and see... follow me..."
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