The Invitation

 Earlier this week I was working on the PowerPoint slides for this Sunday. PowerPoint has never been a strength of mine, and now that the arthritis in my hands is really making itself known, I find the cutting, pasting, and moving between screens difficult and frustrating. Our church office manager has kindly taken over this task, but she has been out of state visiting her father.  For two weeks I have been PowerPoint wrangling. 

As I was trying to stay composed as I was working on the slide for the hymn "Spirit Song" and the beginning words, "O let the Son of God enfold you with his Spirit and his love," I was singing them to help me keep track of where I was. An email came in, and in a moment of distraction, I paused to read it. I found the contents surprisingly rude, which of course just heightened my frustration. My already dwindling composure dissolved into an unpleasant mess.  I opted to not answer the email, but tried to return to my task and my singing, although my mood was certainly not light filled.  

 I soon realized that I was not singing the words as written, but rather "O let the love of God unfold you in his love". I paused, and then my wadded up origami heart heard the invitation to unfurl. The sun was shining, and I decided to walk away from the work and go outside.   

In the front garden is a beautiful ceanothus that I think is about three years old. I was stunned to see that it was in full bloom, and there must have been at least a hundred bees, buth honey and bumblebees, and maybe others darting from blossom to blossom. I have no idea how one would count bees in motion, so I will simply say that the activity level was so high it was audible. I, too, took in the warm, glimmering sunlight and gave thanks to God and to the young woman who helps with tending to the garden. A neighbor stopped by and we talked about neighborly things. She then went on her way, and I returned to my task with a much clearer heart and mind. It was a blessing to find a healing sanctuary in our own front yard, and it was a blessing to hear an invitation and to be present enough to say yes with gratitude.

   

The attached photograph reveals just one of the many pollen-ladened bees at work that day. Let us all plant for life. Bees need it, and so do we.

      

       

Spring in the Neighborhood

My morning schedule opened up because my flute teacher needed to cancel our time together.  Both Covid and our recent rain storms disrupted my walking schedule, so this morning seemed to be a good time to step out. Several people were out in their yards, including one soft spoken man who told me he was from Boston."We are not used to seeing flowers so early in the year." I think he told me that last year as well, but it is true; flowers are erupting everywhere, and people in general were in friendly moods.  

I then walked on and passed a house with a driveway full of children's bicycles and one aluminum boat. A young girl came out. I said hello and asked which bicycle was hers. She pointed to the pink one and then added, just in case I might be confused, that the boat belonged to her dad. Her mom called to her from the front door, so I peeked around the corner, waved and said hello. My mother-in-law lived in that house for a couple of years. In that house the front door and the back door by the kitchen are almost in complete alignment, and on many days, if the doors are open, a cool breeze blows through. I know very little about feng shui, but that design must surely be in good feng shui alignment. We have air conditioning, and I am glad, but I think I will remember that breeze long after I have forgotten about our Carrier heating and air conditioning unit. 

A house a few doors down has the largest ceanothus I think I have ever seen. It is as tall as the house, and covers almost half of it. The bush is right now full of blossoms and is abuzz with bumble and honey bees. I find the sound of bees encouraging.  I am out of practice with photographing bees, but it seemed worth a try. They are definitely doing their work. I then came home to discover that one of the purple lupines in our yard is blooming. 

Neighborhoods, like churches, can be places of healing and connection. I am grateful for where I find myself today. I think Jesus would appreciate both, and yes, I try to make it known that he is always welcome. Even when a sales person comes to the door. Yes, that just happened. Life is a curious thing and I think Jesus has more of a sense of humor than we hear about.    

     

San Leandro, March 2024

A Different View

Sometimes I need a different view, so on Fridays, I try to get out of the neighborhood if possible. Today, I decided to take Jack for a walk at Oyster Bay, here in San Leandro. As we were leaving, Tyler, who was diligently working on spreadsheets, mentioned with fondness the scent of the dill that grows there.  I love the view of the sky through the tall dill, so that is the path that Jack and I walked. 

  

Much of the park has been cleared for disc golf, and there are some grassy areas with picnic tables. Yet, I much prefer a walk among the dill. Bees also are attracted to dill, and the bee in this photograph surprised me.  I usually do not keep out-of-focus photographs, but this chance encounter reminds me to continue to look for those different views.  

   

    

Let the weeds in their season, 

and let the wildness in its time. 

Let lostness, 

and let wandering 

and waste. 

     

Jan L. Richardson 

       

       

  

image: Oyster Bay, San Leandro, August 2022 

Concentration

 I do admire how bees simply go about being bees, even in these difficult times. There is a lesson here.  I am comfortable leaving honey making to the bees. We, however, do need to do our part and concentrate on learning to live in peace.  

I am not familiar with Alden Solovy's writing. I look forward to reading more.   

Bees

The bees
Do not stop
Collecting pollen
When humans
Murder each other
With guns.
The bees think:
How strange,
How low
On the evolutionary scale
Must those humans be,
That they haven’t yet
Figured out
How to make honey
Or peace.
    —Alden Solovy   

   

image: San Leandro, July 1, 2022