Week of September 1, 2009
Rosemary S.

"In the beginning, God created the heaven and the earth
And God saw that it was good."
Genesis 1:1-25

Thoughts At 7 AM.
While Sitting On My Back Steps, Sipping Coffee.
On A Summer's Morning After A Late Night Storm.

This is what Eden must have looked like! The mists were rising slowly, the clouds parting to reveal the vivid blue sky and the luminous sunshine. Trees, emerging from the haze, dribbled crystal-like droplets. Phoebe and Abigail, our two furry felines, danced on the lawn, delightful to be freed after a night of human imposed incarceration, occasionally stopping to shake the moisture from their coats and paws. Tiny white butterflies hovered in groups, like flying blossoms. Here and there, leaves twirled, zigzagging their way to the ground. Birds twittered and swooped. Insects darted here and there. Flowers lifted their rain-washed heads to the morning sun to greet the new day.

I've come across the phenomena several times before, and it always leaves me full of awe. On a pond in Pennington, not too far from my house, our small group of Girl Scouts camped one June weekend. I awoke before anyone else, and walked down to the pond. Again, the mists were just rising -- a surreal vista, prelude to a beautiful late spring day. A lightening storm on the wide-open desert offers a spectacular experience to fill one's heart and mind with wonder. A splendid sunrise or a magnificent sunset at the shore reveals the grandeur of the universe. A shady glen on a hot day, the brilliant sunshine after a fierce blizzard, the majesty of a gigantic waterfall, all display the handiwork of a munificent Creator.

On a bend in a country road where Lochloosa Lake flows into Orange Lake in Florida, the tiny rural community of Cross Creek offered a paradise to writer Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings. Here, she wrote her Pulitzer Prize winning story, The Yearling. This was the first "grown-up" book I was allowed to read. At 11, after having devoured everything in the Children's Department of the town library, I was able to choose from the books in the Adult Section, under the watchful eyes of Librarians Mrs. Gross and Mrs. Stellitano. Although the ending was so sad, it was a revelation to read about a child growing up in such primitive, but enchanting, conditions, This child had a life-long impression on me (My son, who was to be officially named Joseph David, was to have the nickname of "Jody", but somehow it never stuck.) Mrs. Rawlings found her greatest pleasure in, "stepping out of the bright sunlight into the shade of orange trees, walking under the arched canopy of the jade-like leaves, seeing the long aisles of lichened trunks stretching ahead in a geometric rhythm, feeling the mystery of seclusion that yet has shafts of light striking through it. It is the essence of an ancient and secret magic"

In 1987, while on a visit to Kentucky for a Lutheran Church Women Woman-to-Woman experience, we found ourselves in the small village of Pippa Passes, named for the poem written by Robert Browning. It is a peaceful place, home to less than 300 souls, deep in the hills and valleys of Appalachia. The town is the home of Alice Lloyd College, which provides higher education to generations of Kentucky mountain youth, an opportunity for those who could never afford such a luxury to perform chores to earn tuition and their room and board. After graduation, they are encouraged to return to lifelong service in their home communities.

The years at the spring
And day's at the morn;
Morning's at seven;
The hillside's dew-pearled
The lark's on the wing;
The snail's on the thorn;
God's in his Heaven -
All's right with the world!
(Song from Pippa Passes)

Today's world is far from the "all's right" status of Pippa's song. Terrorists and tragic events in the past months have shaken our faith. Hate and evil seem to overcome love and goodness. Our placid, everyday lives have turned us fearful, or cautious at the least. The future sometimes seems uncertain. Yet, on that early morning after the violent summer storm, the world was peaceful and hopeful and joyous and new. God is in His heaven, watching over his creation.

God has created a new day
Silver and green and gold.
Live that the evening will find us
Worthy His gifts to hold. Amen

Contributed by Rosemary S.
Published Monday September 1, 2003
Week 40 of Liturgical Year B