Pilgrimage Statistics
Cumulative Days Riding: 165 Cumulative Days Blogging: 150
Today’s Mileage: 5 Total Trip Mileage: 1112
As I rode the bike this evening my thoughts drifted to yesterday’s visit to a Christian Easter Day service. The service was joyful with the reading of scripture and singing, directed by my partner Susan. The service brought back memories of my childhood and significant church holidays. The one thing I missed was the sight of children running around the lawn collecting colored eggs!
While I enjoyed the service I also made it a point to take a walk around the church campus before and after the service. It was a particularly beautiful day and as always nature bombarded me with distractions. I have decided to share with my readers several poems and musings I wrote before and after the service.
Across the Street
Church lawn:
Pristine green
Parallel mower marks
Edged pathway
Leads to a
Tall white building
Stark wooden cross
Bares white cloth drapery
Easter Lilies
In plastic pails
Circle the base
Signs of a Church’s belief in resurrection!
Across the Street
Empty house:
Unkempt lawn
Mats of dark green clover
Points of purple and yellow
Dandelions and wild violets
Scattered about
Flowering dogwood
Twisted wooden fingers
Bearing pink jewels
Majestic white irises
Circle the base
Signs of Nature’s promise of renewal!
****
In the Shadow of Giants
Ancient oaks
Tower overhead
Midriff bulge
Extends its base
Onto the sidewalk
Like a living
Volcanic flow
What was two
Had become one
An extra
Roll of bark
Marks their seam
They are not alone
A vine
With a girth
Similar to my own
Sends tentacles
Like heavily laden
Fire hoses skyward
Braiding with branches
And twin trunks
A small flowering dogwood
At their base
Cannot compete
For size and age
It counters
With its beauty
Living in the shadow of giants
****
Holiday Treats
Forty steps
Along the sidewalk
From the back
Of the church
Before the Easter
Sunday service
I found green grass
Colorful blossom gifts
On the lawn
All that was missing
Was a basket
And a chocolate bunny
****
What was…
My favorite part
Of the Easter
Church experience
Standing at the base
Of a majestic
Magnolia tree
In the sun
Surrounded by
Spring bird calls
I admired the
Tree’s shade and
Structure
It must have been
Wondrous being a child
Around these trees
They were designed
For climbing and
Hiding in the branches
****
I hope that you enjoyed my words and caught glimpses of the beauty I find in nature! My experience yesterday reminded me of the fact that “one size does not fit all.” While the church was filled with people finding meaning in their sacred scripture and the story of a risen savior, there are others, myself included, who find meaning and guidance in the “voices of nature.” I do not believe that one path/approach has more “truth or validity” than the other, they represent preferences based on our experiences and history.
After a recent posting concerning the Catholic Church one reader made the comment: “Sorry to hear that you are a former Catholic. Only Catholics that don’t know their faith leave because if you truly knew the faith of your birth you would see that there is no other faith to move to. The Catholic Church is the Church that Jesus founded upon Peter and it has lasted the last 2,000 years. Come home!”
I respect this reader’s right to his opinion and recognize his exclusionary beliefs about the Catholic Church. However, I have found my path and like many others “my home” is within the realm of nature, its symbolism, its cycles, and its beauty!
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