New Harmony

The Seven Bridges Road
performed by Dolly Parton
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There are stars in the southern sky
Southward as you go
There is moonlight and moss in the trees
Down the seven bridges road
I have loved you like a baby
Like some lonesome child
I have loved you in a tame way
And I have loved you wild
Sometimes there is a part of me
Has to turn from here and go
Runnin' like a child from these warm stars
Down the seven bridges road

There are stars in the southern sky
And if ever you decide you should go
There is a taste of time sweet as honey
Down the seven bridges road
There are stars in the southern sky
Southward as you go
There is moonlight and moss in the trees
Down the seven bridges road.
Down the seven bridges road...

Recently a short weekend trip, not far from home, found me at  New Harmony, Indiana. A surprise find to say the least! It was remarkable for a number of reasons. Despite the sweltering heat of the day, we were delighted by the cool, greenness of the place; the quiet hum of welcome, the 200 years plus longevity of the town, the creativeness of the inhabitants and the tranquility of nature herself, alive in this place.

Some would describe it as an artist's colony; some would say it is the result of a utopian society founded there nearly 200 years ago; others would declare it to be a spiritual ground brimming with the Spirit of Creation. Indeed there are artists there; there is a town  melding the old seamlessly with the new, and the spiritual with the creative.

However it appeals, to one or another, there surely is a lovely calm pervading, an encouragement for the creative self and a relaxing small, country lifestyle tucked away in the unending green fields of rural Indiana. But more than anything, it's a surprise waiting to be discovered in the lovely lodgings, the cafes, the small spa, the roofless chapel dedicated to the Spirit and more.

In visiting the place, the music of Dolly Parton who performs "Seven Bridges Road"comes to mind. It answers the small, country side that is Indiana and New Harmony which is just that surprise, all the seven bridges roads 'runnin wild like a child... if you should decide to go, a time as sweet as honey... loved like a child...'

The Miracle of a Day

"It is the gift of the artist to bring this to us one and all, an ordinary spring day!"

Ordinary Day

Sung by Sarah Mclachlan

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Its not that usual when everything is beautiful
Its just another ordinary miracle today

The sky knows when its time to snow
You don't need to teach a seed to grow
Its just another ordinary miracle today...

Birds in winter have their fling
And always make it home by spring
Its just another ordinary miracle today

When you wake up everyday
Please don't throw your dreams away
Hold them close to your heart
Cause we are all a part
Of the ordinary miracle

Ordinary miracle
Do you want to see a miracle?

Its seems so exceptional
Things just work out after all...

Its just another ordinary miracle today

Here in the northern  hemisphere, at least, there are the definite signs of spring. Even after what, in some parts, has been a mild winter, the grass lightly green, there are still those definitive signs that the season is changing. Around us, the frogs emerging up from their muddy sleep are singing once more; birds, doves, Red Wing blackbirds, and all the native songsters are returning; they drill the morning air with arias of delight.

 The earlier light warms and wakes the trees; their beauty and delight is glistening, renewed for some and the misery of allergies for others; still we marvel, like the lyrics of this song, to what seems to be 'an ordinary miracle today.' Writing about art and spiritual matters, Thomas Merton writes "One of the most neglected areas... is the ability to see the value and the beauty of ordinary things, to come alive to the splendor that is all around us... " It is the gift of the artist to bring this to us one and all, an ordinary spring day!