Amazement of Creation

Wonder

by Natalie Merchant

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Doctors have come
from distant cities
just to see me

stand over my bed
disbelieving what they're seeing
they say I must be one of the wonders
of God's own creation

and as far as they can see they can offer
no explanation
newspapers ask
intimate questions
want confessions
reach into my head
to steal the glory
of my story

they say I must be one of the wonders
of God's own creation
and as far as they can see they can offer
no explanation

I believe
fate smiled and destiny
laughed as she came to my cradle
know that this child will be able
laughed as my body she lifted
know this child will be gifted
with love. with patience,
and with faith she'll make her way

people see me
I'm a challenge
to your balance
I'm over your heads
how I confound you
and astound you
to know I must be one of the wonders
of God's own creation

and as far as you can see you can offer me
no explanation
I believe...

The wonders of creation. Early spring brings all its own natural joys. We look forward to more time out doors, more direct interaction with the natural world. Many, including me will be gardening, planting, mowing, soaking up some sun. I contrast this with a year ago when I was not up to so much activity. The wonders of God's creation. It seems that "fate smiled, and destiny."

To be a 'child gifted with faith, patience and love' we make our way. Without the most basic elements, the air we breathe, the many wonders of creation, the lifetimes we experience would be very different. What would they be? Would they be? And yes, "I'm a challenge to your balance." Walking the way of faith is counter-intuitive; it is in many ways radical. To believe what you cannot see, to trust in the wind you only feel, may indeed be confounding. But do it anyway. You will be challenged and rewarded in many ways.

No one has really offered an adequate explanation for this earth. We try, but its vastness and many facets are daunting; to know that we are one "of the wonders of God's creation" is the most incomprehensible and amazing of all. We share in creation as both a Creator and as a result. While we're not perfect in the least, we are so very lovable, as one of God's creation. Happy spring.

 

Small Packages, Big Things

We May Never Pass This Way Again

by Seals and Croft

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 Life, so they say
Is but a game and they'd let it slip away
Love, like the autumn sun
Should be dyin' but it's only just begun

Like the twilight in the road up ahead
They don't see just where we're goin'
All the secrets in the universe whisper in our ears
All the years come and go, take us up, always up

We may never pass this way again
We may never pass this way again
We may never pass this way again

Dreams, so they say
Are for the fools and they let 'em drift away
Peace, like the silent dove
Should be flyin' but it's only just begun...

So I wanna laugh while the laughin' is easy
I wanna cry it makes it worthwhile
I may never pass this way again
That's why I want it with you

'Cause you make me feel like I'm more than a friend
Like I'm the journey and you're the journey's end
I may never pass this way again
That's why I want it with you...

Recently there was a talk given to the public at large which included a good number of young, art students. The speaker, an artist himself was exuberant, joyful and rather a bit nervous. And he had a lot to say, a lot. Time was short; his remarks crunched into a 45 minute segment. The students in the audience had other places to go and things to do. For his part the artist-speaker, a middle aged man had much to tell, some thought too much.
And then there were the traditional nude drawings that he and so many before him have studied and replicated. The human figure, it seems, is an unending source of wonder and beauty.

While he showed  many examples of his "body" of work, it was clear that he is quite competent renderer, and he clearly enjoyed cartoon figures; his profession as a graphic artist somewhat limited his progress in these areas. This man's personal story was bold, irreverent, witty, amusing, and at times, startling, if not simply shocking. And he became a bit defensive. His youthful student audience was some, a bit offended.

Should he have defended what is his work, the beauty of nature? Or was it simply marred by his interpretations, his perception of that nature? Maybe he would be better to allow the work to speak for itself, to allow the viewer to take it in, to possess what one may grasp of its essential nature-- but he, the artist, did not allow for that.

He displayed himself quite dramatically in response by pulling up his own shirt! The audience was aghast. And to a Simple Mind, he was sweet in his own clumsiness and part-ignorance. It seemed more that he was trying to get at the lyrics of the song above, but never did, so mired in himself he was. And it's true, "we may never pass this way, you make me feel like more than a friend; you're the journey's end..."

For this man, the process of life is clearly as important as the result. May he be forgiven for his clumsiness, his brashness and his desire to shock for control; big things most often do come in little packages. This one was no exception.

"There is an appointed time for everything,

and a time for every affair under the heavens..."

~The book of Ecclesiastes 3:1-15



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...'