So good, In loved this. Thankyou. My love is for the sea. It has to be sea not river or lake. The sea gives me so many images of God. I grew up on the east coast of Australia within walking distance to the sea and it was there I found God in many ways. Even though I now need to drive almost 90 mijnuts to get to the sea, it is where I go when I need to talk or listen to God in tough times. I think the waves and the sand and the salty smell and thje birds would have been Jesus' parables if he had lived in Sydney (before the buildings!)
I'd like to share 2 poems I wrote about the sea which I think is a kind of parable. Hope that's okay.
I walk along the beach
Anticipating happiness from somewhere
To leap out and catch
My mournful soul.
I grit my teeth and dutifully think
Happy thoughts
The water washes over me
Capturing my pants’ legs
All is undone
When I see the sign
BEACH CLOSED DUE TO DANGEROUS CONDITIONS
Today my mind is closed
Due to dangerous thoughts
Rejecting reality
And allowing anger to come full force.
The waves are wild
Pounding with vengeance into the sand
Just as bizarre thoughts pound inside my brain.
The waves pound in criss cross angles into the beach
As my anger runs hurtling through my head.
The star shaped shells are tiny and brittle
And I am reminded that today
My star is well hidden
Deep inside
So vulnerable
I won’t allow it to be touched.
The tide is low
There are deep trenches along the beach
Today my life recedes into the past leaving trenches
I loved this too - that whole notion of reimagining parables for our here & now is truly stunning & very powerful. Jesus worked with what was real for him and we get to do the same in our different countries & cultures. I think for me, the prodigal son story crosses all the divides of time, geography & culture and shows us over & over again what God's unconditional love is truly like, for all time ❤️
I am looking at an orchid that has at least 10 beautiful purple blooms. It doesn't have much soil and is watered once a week with 3 ice cubes. My take on this is once we decide we are Christian, it takes some consistent support (after all, we are a sociable being), but we bloom through the Holy Spirit working within us.
I thought, how is it more precious that someone grows in faith when there is amazing soil compared to someone who grows quickly and then is hit with hardship (aka the rock) and the little plant dies?
When I was a teenager reading these parables I thought so much about right and wrong. Like, “that’s the ways how to do it!”
After reading your post, I now have empathy for the people who were hit with hardship too early and their trust (that baby plant) couldn’t keep growing. Then I think about the trees and how they kept on going against all odds and how special this is.
I think about my own life and how my faith kept growing as a young person amidst hardships. Actually because of the hardships I had to desperately grip onto faith to make it through.
Only a decade later to have so much rock that my faith changed. Even fell away for a time. It didn’t die, but it’s somewhere in the tiny cracks. So I start this new day with the image of my faith making a life for itself in the tiny cracks. That each little drop of water keeps me going and the hope that my roots will reach down to the big water eventually.
Last spring I planted pumpkin seeds, hoping to have my own home grown pumpkin to carve for Halloween but for whatever reason, the plants never sprouted. But lo and behold this summer with all the rain and flooding in NC, I have a pumpkin plant 20 ft from where the seeds were originally planted, holding 3 beautiful pumpkins. It reminded me of the importance of staying hopeful even on the days where I cant see evidence of growth and beauty.
I wrote a parable of the cherry trees for my own life last month, based on my morning ritual of checking on the trees in my backyard! And I often tell me college students that if Jesus came back he’d be telling parables about Stanley cups and crocs, probably - haha
As someone who recently “replanted” themselves in the Muskoka area of Ontario, these words resonate deeply with my soul! I think the same is with lily pads…that they grow in the muck and produce such beauty…I have a friend who used to always tell me, you can’t have flowers without diving into the dirt. And that’s some real beauty!
These are the exact words I needed to hear today. They are a much needed healing balm to my soul.
Thank you.
So good, In loved this. Thankyou. My love is for the sea. It has to be sea not river or lake. The sea gives me so many images of God. I grew up on the east coast of Australia within walking distance to the sea and it was there I found God in many ways. Even though I now need to drive almost 90 mijnuts to get to the sea, it is where I go when I need to talk or listen to God in tough times. I think the waves and the sand and the salty smell and thje birds would have been Jesus' parables if he had lived in Sydney (before the buildings!)
I'd like to share 2 poems I wrote about the sea which I think is a kind of parable. Hope that's okay.
I walk along the beach
Anticipating happiness from somewhere
To leap out and catch
My mournful soul.
I grit my teeth and dutifully think
Happy thoughts
The water washes over me
Capturing my pants’ legs
All is undone
When I see the sign
BEACH CLOSED DUE TO DANGEROUS CONDITIONS
Today my mind is closed
Due to dangerous thoughts
Rejecting reality
And allowing anger to come full force.
The waves are wild
Pounding with vengeance into the sand
Just as bizarre thoughts pound inside my brain.
The waves pound in criss cross angles into the beach
As my anger runs hurtling through my head.
The star shaped shells are tiny and brittle
And I am reminded that today
My star is well hidden
Deep inside
So vulnerable
I won’t allow it to be touched.
The tide is low
There are deep trenches along the beach
Today my life recedes into the past leaving trenches
That are supposed to hold the new found truths.
The clouds are ragged and grey
Mirroring my battered, disconnected feelings.
I turn and walk away
The lonescape of the beach
Left behind.
The second poem is happier!!
As I walk
I begin to quieten.
I understand
My need to
Listen
To Jesus.
Today
The waves
Lap gently,
Enticing my toes
Along the edge of the sand.
The sand
Is soft,
My footprints
Go deep,
But are quickly covered.
Jesus walks with me,
Listening to my
Hurts and heartaches.
He invites me to
Look to Him.
He will cover
The footprints of my past
With healing.
I loved this too - that whole notion of reimagining parables for our here & now is truly stunning & very powerful. Jesus worked with what was real for him and we get to do the same in our different countries & cultures. I think for me, the prodigal son story crosses all the divides of time, geography & culture and shows us over & over again what God's unconditional love is truly like, for all time ❤️
I am looking at an orchid that has at least 10 beautiful purple blooms. It doesn't have much soil and is watered once a week with 3 ice cubes. My take on this is once we decide we are Christian, it takes some consistent support (after all, we are a sociable being), but we bloom through the Holy Spirit working within us.
I thought, how is it more precious that someone grows in faith when there is amazing soil compared to someone who grows quickly and then is hit with hardship (aka the rock) and the little plant dies?
When I was a teenager reading these parables I thought so much about right and wrong. Like, “that’s the ways how to do it!”
After reading your post, I now have empathy for the people who were hit with hardship too early and their trust (that baby plant) couldn’t keep growing. Then I think about the trees and how they kept on going against all odds and how special this is.
I think about my own life and how my faith kept growing as a young person amidst hardships. Actually because of the hardships I had to desperately grip onto faith to make it through.
Only a decade later to have so much rock that my faith changed. Even fell away for a time. It didn’t die, but it’s somewhere in the tiny cracks. So I start this new day with the image of my faith making a life for itself in the tiny cracks. That each little drop of water keeps me going and the hope that my roots will reach down to the big water eventually.
Last spring I planted pumpkin seeds, hoping to have my own home grown pumpkin to carve for Halloween but for whatever reason, the plants never sprouted. But lo and behold this summer with all the rain and flooding in NC, I have a pumpkin plant 20 ft from where the seeds were originally planted, holding 3 beautiful pumpkins. It reminded me of the importance of staying hopeful even on the days where I cant see evidence of growth and beauty.
I wrote a parable of the cherry trees for my own life last month, based on my morning ritual of checking on the trees in my backyard! And I often tell me college students that if Jesus came back he’d be telling parables about Stanley cups and crocs, probably - haha
As someone who recently “replanted” themselves in the Muskoka area of Ontario, these words resonate deeply with my soul! I think the same is with lily pads…that they grow in the muck and produce such beauty…I have a friend who used to always tell me, you can’t have flowers without diving into the dirt. And that’s some real beauty!
Beautiful Sarah. I loved this essay. I too love to be near water.
While sitting here in my senior years, God still looks at the heart and knows every heart!
I loved this! Thanks.
In the caregiving of a family member with Parkinson's.
Sarah, this is such a beautiful post. Thank you.
"Like a tree that's planted by the water, I will not be moved..." an old spiritual. This reminded me of that great song. Thanks.