I have been pondering this photograph for a few days now. I am intrigued by what looks to be a small vessel and the center of the rose, and have been wondering what sort of writing should go along with it. A Psalm? A poem? Nothing has, until now, surfaced.
Sister Julian (I really do not know how else to speak about Julian of Norwich; her writings are so intimate that I feel we are related) often referred to Jesus and/or Christ as Mother. While I usually see a rose as a symbol of our linear journey (that is the journey from our physical birth to our physical death), this morning I realized that this particular rose speaks to me of birth, and how birth is a cycle, not just a one time event. Yes, we are birthed a physical mother, but we are also birthed by Christ, and we give birth to Christ. We are the inn at Bethlehem where Joseph and Mary wait so Christ can be born again. This photograph also reminds me that Christ is continually pouring out the Christ Self for all. There is no end to this cycle, only an enriching as (hopefully) our hearts become more open.
The picture itself is small because it is so closely cropped. I hope you can experience the expanding largeness that I sense. And I pray the Mother Christ can be known to you today as you are brought forth into this world.
Our human mothers
bore us into a world of
pain and death,
but our True Mother,
Jesus - All Love -
bears us into joy
and endless life
(Blessed may She be!)
In this way, Mother Christ
supports and holds us
in love within Herself
(as a pregnant mother
holds her unborn child).
Hazlenuts from Julian of Norwich
Ellyn Sanna
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