Apr 16, 2023

Living in Unconditional Love (110)

 

“Love flows from God to humans without effort:

As a bird glides through the air without moving its wings-

Thus, they go wherever they wish united in body and soul,

Yet separate in form.”

–Mechtild of Magdeburg

 

My wife Eileen died from esophageal cancer in February 2020 one year after being diagnosed, 60 years to the day that we met on Long Island. Then my brother Tom became ill (not COVID), and I spent a total of six weeks being with him in Ohio, but he died in October 2020. My sister-in-law Sue Mahoney died from Covid-19 in January 2021. On top of it all stood the pandemic, locking everyone down almost two years, and even though it is abating, I wear my mask anytime I am out among people, unlike most.

04/16/2023                                      I now have confirmation that spring is here in that the Phoebe that nests every year on the front porch is back, busily repairing the nest remains that were there. We have had a Phoebe on the front porch almost every year for decades, and usually one or more located elsewhere around the garage. I wonder what generation this is since I am sure they cannot live as long as they have used the nest on the front porch, and I wonder how it is passed on to the next pair, but they always appear in the spring.

The daffodils are glorious, but the super warm weather we are having will probably shorten the season. The crew was here yesterday and cleaned the gardens, put up the umbrellas, connected the water line and installed the fountain in the front garden, and now things are looking great. We even started the mower but had to jump-start it and let it run to charge the battery. I will probably start mowing in a week or two.

Every year we seem to have an earlier spring. I put the bonsai out at the end of March, which is almost a month earlier than ten years ago. I recall when we moved here in 1971 in late May the red buds on the maples were just appearing. This past week as I was driving down the hill, I noticed the red buds are now present, a good five or six weeks earlier.

I will be cleaning the hummingbird feeder and getting it ready to put out in another week or so, probably after I return from seeing The King and I that Barbara is directing at her church. They always do a great job, and it should be fun.

They are asking older folks (like me) what we think of our country now. The biggest change is in the outspoken selfishness that one entire political party has sworn in as their calling card. Hatred for anyone who is not straight, white, and loves killing weapons is their byline and identity. And most strangely, most fiercely insist they are Christian, despite these are the very things that Jesus said is wrong. This does require some strange twisting of the Gospels to somehow justify their most unchristian statements, but they swear by it.

The rhetoric is understandable if one studies history and that thinking was always the understood standard. It is now that the Caucasian race is becoming a minority that it is being brought forth as a spoken standard. It is scary to many people, but it has been fundamental ever since this country was founded, except for the civil war periods and the ensuing years when it was front and center. Add to this the wild mixture of guns that was never seen before and it is a much more volatile country. Anyone that is different than themselves is suspect and, according to many, should be killed. And that will continue to occur until a sufficient plurality of us wake up and act to stop it. Are we still a democracy? Was there ever a true democracy in our country? Can we become a true democracy? These questions need to be asked over and over, for any resemblance of being a democracy is in jeopardy at this moment.

Meditation

Gentle One, I look at my country at this time of my life, as it is approaching its end. I will not see how this process ends, but I have hope that justice and peace will eventually arrive. I believe that it is a slow and steady climb, as it has been over my life, and this time is a tipping point that I must leave in Your care. I have seen much hope over the years, and slow progress, and I must believe that it will continue. I rest all that I have in Your care, for my children and grandchildren will be the ones that carry Your Love to help all.