Tag: splendor

There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse, and a branch shall grow out of his roots.
Isaiah 11:1

There are days we live
as if death were nowhere
in the background; from joy
to joy to joy, from wing to wing,
from blossom to blossom to
impossible blossom, to sweet impossible blossom.
~Li-Young Lee, from “From Blossoms” from Rose

I drag the lawn chair
to the center of the new lawn
where you have warned
it will ruin the delicate
grass. From here
I have a perfect view
of the pink camellia,
the one with rose-shaped flowers
which you secretly think
I have ignored. This is my camellia
viewing platform
I tell you, remembering
signposts in Japan.

… the camellia
opens its flesh-colored petals
with utter unself-consciousness,
releasing its scent
into the dangerous air.
~Linda Pastan from “Camellias” from Heroes in Disguise

In the midst of people dying
in war-torn countries,
as bombs drop and buildings fall to rubble –

we seek the peace of Someone
who is both truly man
yet very God –
an impossible Blossom blooming purposely
in the midst of our mess –

reminding us of Life and Light
He shines in the darkness where we all dwell;
this God who becomes a Man
impossibly shares the sweetness of His glorious splendor,
lightening our heavy load.

This gentle fragrant many-layered Bloom:
given to the undeserving
with joy and love
without reservation
without hesitation
from joy to joy to joy,
defeating death — our death.

This year’s Barnstorming Lenten theme is Ephesians 3:9:

…to bring to light for everyone what is the plan of the mystery hidden for ages in God, who created all things…

Last Stanza:
O Flow’r, whose fragrance tender
With sweetness fills the air,
Dispels in glorious splendor
The darkness ev’rywhere;
True man, yet very God,
From sin and death now saves us,
And shares our ev’ry load.