excitement galore
I’m gazing at the first gardenia blossom unfurling a petal at a time! It’s been five years since the giant bush has produced buds, and this year it has over twenty large ones. The bud is opening from the outside in– there’s an unexpected grace to it.
Saturday, a friend shared an existential she’d had with a magnolia tree. While she reveled in the glorious tree and it’s blossom, she felt the beauty of the Lord upon her (to borrow from the celtic book of daily prayer). She stood there in awe of the perfect blossom, the fragrance, the magnitude of the tree, and she thought that humans with all our ingenuity could not design this.
More than once I stopped to soak in the mountains, English Bay and the general beauty that’s Vancouver. Worship effervesced in my soul during sunsets and early mornings. The beauty and grandeur overwhelmed and humbled me in a satisfactory manner. I was content in beholding the beauty; my petty annoyances took perspective. It’s the same with beaches and deserts; the vastness wakes awe in me.
But, the gardenia blossom awakes a different type of awe, wonder and worship. Noted theologian Oscar Wilde wrote, “God is in the details.” This blossom smells so sweet and clean. It’s beauty will last a week or two, then it will shrivel up, fall, decompose and feed the soil. There’s a decadence to this almost disposable beauty. But, it will come next year. This delicate, tiny and impermenant beauty declares aspects of the character and name of God that are equal to the statement declared by mountain chains.
I’d about given up on the bush as budless, but the chief stated she wanted to keep it regardless of rather or not it produced buds: it has lovely foliage and had been a Mother’s Day present. The chief modeled good theology in her patience and appreciation. The five-year dormancy has come to an end!
update
I’m not writing regularly because this feature now crashes my browser (I’m on a borrowed PC). My computer is four years old and is getting persnickety. Sunday through Wednesday I’m helping my uncle with my cousins while my aunt is away with the middle daughter. I have had a fabulous time hanging out with the self-dubbed drama queen and the drama princess.
Today I met with a pastor friend about a summer internship and started delivering applications to Starbucks in the area. It is fair to say I didn’t see this portion of my life on the horizon. But, right now, any job would do. I’m not underemployed but unemployed. “People” keep saying something will come up, but it’s been a long time and no real job has surfaced. Not that retail and food services are bad, but they do not play to any of my strengths. C’est la vie. I can tuck this under “Suffering Mysteries”.
I’m tired and signing off.
