Today is Pentecost in the calendar of the western liturgical churches: the day when the Holy Spirit arrived on the wind, and settled like tongues of flame upon the ones gathered, enlightening minds and giving courage to the hearts of the followers of The Way.
It is important to note that such a thing happened (and happens) with and for all the people who were/are students of this way of being in relation to Mystery and one another: no one was/is left out. It is also important to note that this intimate relationship with Mystery, this illumination, did not happen to an institution; it happened within human hearts and minds. These are the places where all new revelation, visions, and ideas for human society begin. In us. At the heart of us. When these things are born of beatitude-people we all are blessed; when these things are born of the hard-hearted, power-hungry, and love-starved we all suffer. We are in a suffering stage now for certain, though this too shall pass.
I keep thinking about the “winter-blasted hydrangea” in the background in one of the photos I shared of my front gardens a couple days ago. Here is a close-up of that little tree.
You can see that all the branches, which should be full with leaves and maybe even setting buds by now, are dead. The past winter was terribly cold, and then about a month ago, when the snow had finally melted, we had four days with temperatures in the eighty-degrees Fahrenheit, when the sap began to flow upward, and the buds began to swell, and then came two nights below freezing. The branches, just coming to life, died back.
Yet, look close to the ground in the center of the shrub. New life is rising from the heart of the plant. I don’t know that it will bloom this year, some of my hydrangea will bloom on new growth, though I am not sure which ones. We shall see. The point isn’t the flower, the point is that the little tree lived through a rough season and will bloom again in its own time.
These are suffering times for those who care about democracy and for one another. This plant-friend, and very distant cousin of ours, is teaching about resilience. She is doing so by being her own hydrangea-self and without speaking a word (I am using words because I am a writer and cannot help myself.) What I “hear” her saying is this: “When hard times come be resilient: gather your energy and ground it in steadfast soil, in good friends, in communities of life and love. Reach down and deep, grow down and in, then grow up and out, and leave the world blessed by your time in it.”
A blessing indeed. May it be so.
Courage my dears. Receive every blessing that comes your way, and then share them with others. Build tables, make gardens, share bounty, teach skills, tell true stories, tend relationships. We must ride this storm out together or, surely we will be swept away alone. Our choice.
Choose love. For the sake of all that is good, love one another.
