Unseasonably Springing

We have had a cold spring in our area.  Winter has held on to the temperatures and brought us snow flurries, while the song birds are heralding spring in trees which are budding while flowers have appeared in fields and flower beds.

So when the day seemed even remotely springlike, I took my camera and walked the paths at Cox Arboretum.   The weather may not be springing, but I tried to put a little spring in my walk.

I did see my first caterpillar, ant and  (my favorite) bee of the season – welcome signs of spring.

In the Orthodox Church we frequently pray for “seasonable weather” which perhaps in our modern minds shaped by media weather reports translates into average or normal weather, though in our hearts we want it to be at least fair weather, preferable good or nice.

But there is an old Arab saying which has it that “All sun makes a desert.”  We need the rain, clouds and cool weather to make our gardens grow.

“Unseasonably.”  This to me is a strange word in the vocabulary of media meteorologists.  In the middle of winter they might say on the coldest night of the year that it is “unseasonably cold.”  They seem to mean it is below average in temperature, but in what other season except for winter would we have those bone chilling temperatures?

We seem to have had an unseasonably cold spring this year, though I don’t know if the weather data would affirm that or whether we have been well within what is normal for this time of the year.

A little ditty, I remember from my youth:  “Whether the weather be fine, or whether the weather be not, it’s not a matter of weather or not.  Whatever the weather, we’ll weather the weather, whether we like it or not.”   Searching on the Internet, I see that limerick has many avatars, none of them exactly as I remember it.

You can find all of my photos from my walk at  2018-4-26 Cox Arboretum.   Despite the weather, the birds keep singing every morning.

Two of Every Sort of Animal

The story of Noah taking the animals in the ark mentions at one point taking two of each kind of animal with him.

But the Noah narrative is actually made of two versions of the story woven together in one tapestry and makes no effort to harmonize the two versions.  The other version mentions taking seven pairs of clean animals and birds.

When the animals follow Noah into the ark as if he is the chief shepherd to all animals, it is the first time in Scripture that the animals are said to follow the dominion of humans.

The story portrays humans and animals in a harmonious relationship with humans having proper dominion over the animals.

Inside the ark itself the story suggests another paradise with humans and animals living peaceably together, though outside the ark the raging waters will threaten death to all.

“And of every living thing of all flesh, you shall bring two of every sort into the ark, to keep them alive with you; they shall be male and female.

Of the birds according to their kinds, and of the animals according to their kinds, of every creeping thing of the ground according to its kind, two of every sort shall come in to you, to keep them alive.

Also take with you every sort of food that is eaten, and store it up; and it shall serve as food for you and for them.”  (Genesis 6:19-21)

The ark was to be a protective storehouse of plants and animals that God would keep safe from the chaotic torrential downpour that would inundate the world.  As destructive as the deluge might be, God was preserving all the species on earth.

What a menagerie of animals was brought together – just like in Paradise.

“… they and every beast according to its kind, and all the cattle according to their kinds, and every creeping thing that creeps on the earth according to its kind,

and every bird according to its kind, every bird of every sort. They went into the ark with Noah, two and two of all flesh in which there was the breath of life.

And they that entered, male and female of all flesh, went in as God had commanded him; and the LORD shut him in. ” (Genesis 7:14-16)

All of the above photos were taken at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park.  You can view all of my photos from there at SDZSP 2018 .   Photos from a previous visit are at SDZSP 2012.

The Blessing of Wind

In January, we bless water in the Church as part of our celebration of the Theophany of the Lord.   All of creation was given to us by God to be a blessing for us.  We acknowledge those blessings in the many & varied prayer services of the Church.  St. John Chrysostom  reminds us that the wind is also a blessing from God.

“Truly the winds are also for you–for we are going back again to the beginning of our discourse–to fan worn-out bodies, to purge away the defilement from mud and the heaviness caused by smoke and furnaces and other exhalations,

to attenuate the heat of the sun’s rays, to relieve the stifling heat, to make seeds grow, to strengthen plants, to travel together with you at sea and to be servants of agriculture for you on land–in the first place, conveying ships more swiftly than arrows and making the voyage easy and convenient,

and in the second place, clearing off the threshing floor with you, separating the chaff from the grain, and lightening the hardship of the work–to make the air light and gentle for you, to give you delight in different ways–first whistling pleasantly and gently, and then softly striking the plants and shaking the leaves of the trees–to make your sleep in spring and in summer more pleasant and more delightful than honey.

They also act on the surface of the sea and on the waters of the rivers, and lift up their surface in the same way as with the trees, thus providing you with a great deal of enjoyment from seeing it and, more importantly, also rendering you a great service.

And in fact, the winds are useful to waters in another way: not allowing them to stagnate and go bad, but rather, continually setting them in motion and stirring them up, rendering them fresh and at their best and more suitable as sustenance for creatures that swim in them.” 

(On the Providence of God, pp. 65-66)

Take Delight in All Things

“Your own of Your own we offer to You on behalf of all things and for all things.” (Divine Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom)

“… when You open Your hand, they are filled with good things.”  (Psalm 104:28)

“Take delight in all things that surround us.  All things teach us and lead us to God.  All things around us are droplets of the love of God –

both things animate and inanimate,

 

the plants and the animals,

the birds and the mountains,

the sea and the sunset and the starry sky.

They are little loves through which we attain to the great Love that is Christ.

Flowers, for example, have their own grace: they teach us with their fragrance and with their magnificence.  They speak to us of the love of God.

They scatter their fragrance and their beauty on sinners and on the righteous.”  (Elder Porphyrios, WOUNDED BY LOVE, p 218)

Peregrinating in Late Autumn

You shall walk after the LORD your God and fear him, and keep his commandments and obey his voice, and you shall serve him and cleave to him.  (Deuteronomy 13:4)

I do so appreciate God’s creation, and the chance to walk in it.  Because of my spinal stenosis, I consider walking a gift.  After three spinal fusions, even the doctor thinks my walking is a miracle.  Many of us avoid walking as much as possible – take the car, find the closest parking spot.  Walking is a joyfully eucharistic experience for me.  Quite literally, I can’t do it enough.

For you have snatched me from death,

kept my feet from stumbling,

That I may walk before God

in the light of the living. 

(Psalm 56:14)

These days I stick to the level paths.  Neuropathy from the stenosis and surgeries makes all walking an adventure.  It limits where I can go, but I still can enjoy the unexpected in creation.  The above two photos are actually reflections in pond water.   Scenes reflected in water are, to me, artistry of a mystical kind.  The artist is God, reflecting on creation and maybe enjoying His creation as much as I do His natural art.

In the tangle of branches, relieved of their leaves, a female cardinal is hidden, as is the God who created them all.  Sometimes we get glimpses of those mysteries normally hidden from our eyes.  If we cultivate the eyes of our heart, we sense the world in a totally different way.

Also hidden is an old wooden fence – once it set a boundary, but long since has been abandoned.  Nature reclaims its territory.  Both sides of the fence are now the same as they were before it was constructed.  We spend a great deal of time and energy in our lifetime to set up fences some made of wood, or even barbed wire, but others are social and many are psychological.  They too will pass away when the earth reclaims us.    Maybe that tells us we put way too much energy building things that will quickly pass away, and will be of no value to us or others in this world or the world to come.   The field is naturally full of lessons for life.

It has been a fairly mild and warm autumn for us so far this year.  Many people commented that they thought it also was not a colorful fall season.  The earth tone hues were there, but the vibrant colors of the leaves were missing.  In any case autumn is a season of colors passing away.  It is a reminder that life itself is fragile and fleeting.

I saw this goose stretching its wings.  Perhaps, evolution in process as it already has its bipedal stance.  Or maybe the goose was conjuring up an orchestra to sing praise to the Creator.  Or, like me, just enjoying the day, taking a walk.

 

One evening, I observed the sun, partially hidden behind some clouds with leafless trees in front of them.  It really did look to me like Japanese art.  Simple and natural.  Perhaps missing the crowned crane.  Nature can transport the perceptive viewer to anywhere in the world.  God gives the sun and the rain equally to all.

Life moves on, and if we are able we keep walking.  Autumn and evening are harbingers for those who are aware of their age.  But, neither represents the end, but only a temporary, but necessary stage leading to new life.  There is a beauty in them which is both fading, and calling to mind the unfading Light of Christ.

 

For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.  (Ephesians 2:10)

The Tranquility of Creation

St. Gregory of Nyssa in his book describing the creation of humans, ON THE MAKING OF MAN, gives us a very idyllic picture of the world in the moment before humans arrived on the scene – the calm before the storm.

“Now all things already arrived at their own end: the heaven and the earth (Genesis 2:1), as Moses says, were finished, and all things that lie between them, and the particular things were adorned with their appropriate beauty;

the heaven with the rays of the stars, the sea and air with the living creatures that swim and fly, and the earth with all varieties of plants and animals, to all which, empowered by the Divine will, it gave birth together;

the earth was full, too, of her produce, bringing forth fruits at the same time with flowers; the meadows were full of all that grows therein,

and all the mountain ridges, and summits, and every hillside, and slope, and hollow, were crowned with young grass, and with the varied produce of the trees, just risen from the ground, yet shot up at once into their perfect beauty;

and all the beasts that had come into life at God’s command were rejoicing, we may suppose, and skipping about, running to and fro in the thickets in herds according to their kind, while every sheltered and shady spot was ringing with the chants of the songbirds.

And at sea, we may suppose, the sight to be seen was of the like kind, as it had just settled to quiet and calm in the gathering together of its depths, where havens and harbors spontaneously hollowed out on the coasts made the sea reconciled with the land;

and the gentle motion of the waves vied in beauty with the meadows, rippling delicately with light and harmless breezes that skimmed the surface; and all the wealth of creation by land and sea was ready, and not was there to share it.”  (pp 20-21)

St. Gregory pictures the perfect creation, tranquilly settling in from the more violent creation which brought the chaos under control, separating the waters from the land and causing the dry earth to emerge.  That tumult and turmoil lasted only a brief moment for St. Gregory – things instantly attained their finished state – trees reaching their heights instantaneously.  In his understanding, the first trees grew but not over years but immediately attaining their height.  His view is that the world we are in today emerged both spontaneously but not yet in completed form.  Things had to grow but did so instantly.  Things didn’t have to follow what we now know as the order of nature in those opening days of creation – they were exempt from the laws of nature that we know.

Humans were created last to be the crown of creation – the earth was a Paradise created by God for His human creatures.  Humans were not made to wait for the world to emerge – it was all there, perfectly, before humans were placed in it, according to St. Gregory.  Humans had nothing else to do but maintain the  pacific serenity and blessed placidness.  They, however, were about to undue all that God had planned.

Early Autumn

You have made the moon to mark the seasons;
the sun knows its time for setting.  (Psalms 104:19)

The first day of fall 2017 came on September 22.   The Autumnal Equinox marks the beginning of autumn with there being approximately the same amount of daylight and nighttime darkness.  We have been in a dry spell with unseasonably warm temperatures.  So far the color change has been slow in coming.  Though I do see brown, dry leaves on the ground, the trees are still mostly green with color only slowly appearing among the leaves.

Daniel said:
“Blessed be the name of God from age to age,
for wisdom and power are his.
He changes times and seasons…
(Daniel 2:20-21)  

I really do enjoy fall weather – the passing of high humidity days brings a drier warmth and pleasing breezes.  I love to see the colors of the leaves as they mark the passing of the seasons.  They are a harbinger of winter but I enjoy their current beauty, not what they are pointing to.

For both we and our words are in his hand,
as are all understanding and skill in crafts.
For it is he who gave me unerring knowledge of what exists,
to know the structure of the world and the activity of the elements;
the beginning and end and middle of times,
the alternations of the solstices and the changes of the seasons,
the cycles of the year and the constellations of the stars…  (Wisdom of Solomon 7:16)

I walk in the woods, enjoying God’s creation and the changing nature of the world.  I have lived through more than half of century watching summer end replaced by autumn’s tones.  It is always the same and yet each season is new and wonderful.

aua

Let’s Face It

I took a mental health day and got away from it all – going to a very secluded place in Ohio to visit The Wilds.  As their own literature says: The Wilds is located in a very remote and rural area where cellular service is very limited.  This is at times a good thing.

So here are a few of the faces I saw while at The Wilds.

Some of the animals show a little sass.

While the mother wild donkey shows a little ass (don’t worry, it’s King James biblical – look it up).

Some have nice toothy smiles.

And then always someone has to clown around and make faces.

The song says smiling faces tell lies – and the Sichuan Takin looks passively cute but the animal handlers say is quite aggressively mean.

Some have faces only a mother could love, especially after rolling in the mud.

And apparently young males of all kinds are willing to try a Mohawk or other styles to attract attention.

Some toot their own horns.

And sometimes you have to take a double-take to really note where one thing begins and the other ends.

Some animals are just more wild than others, they often are party animals.

You can see all my photos and a few new faces from The Wilds at The Wilds 2017.   Or you can see photos from all my past visits there at The Wilds Collection.

Totally Eclipsed

I don’t have a quote or a photo to offer for the eclipse, but did find this 4-5th Century Christian hymn which references the sun:

Blessed Light of the Trinity,

Originating Unity,

Now as the fiery sun declines

Pour radiance in our hearts.

In morning songs we offered praise,

At evening we implore you.

To you, our glory,

Through every age,

May this suppliant offer praise.”

(John McGuckin, AT THE LIGHTING OF THE LAMPS: HYMNS OF THE ANCIENT CHURCH, p 39)

Psalm 95 – The World is the Lord’s

Come, let us greatly rejoice in the Lord; Let us shout aloud to God our savior;  Let us come before His face with thanksgiving, And let us shout aloud to Him with psalms.  

For the Lord is a great God, A great King over all the gods;  For in His hand are the ends of the earth,

(Photo by Seth Bobosh)

And the heights of the mountains are His;  

For the sea is His, and He made it,

(Photo by Seth Bobosh)

And His hands formed the dry land.  

Come, let us worship and fall down before Him, And let us weep before the Lord who made us;  For He is our God, And we are the people of His pasture And the sheep of His hand.   (Psalm 95:1-7)