Carol Varsalona at Beyond Literacy Link is rounding up our Spiritual Journey Thursday posts relating to the theme Blossoms of Joy. Thanks, Carol, for hosting this week.
Can you imagine our earthly sojourn without the blossoms that accompany our celebrations and our farewells? Some years ago, carnations worn on Mother's Day signified whether a mother was alive or deceased: red if one's mother was living, white if one's mother was deceased. Our mothers pinned our love to their Sunday dresses in the form of corsages. Today we gift our mothers gorgeous flower arrangements for the home as a reminder of the joy they bring to our lives.
I am fortunate to live in the Pacific Northwest where spring trumpets its arrival with bursts of flowers, blossoms on trees, and the tender green leaves of spring. I decided to search my photos for my favorite pics of spring. Here are a just a few of my joyful blossoms of spring. I was trying to limit myself to ten, but it looks like I ended up with a baker's dozen!
The lyrics to the hymn "God Is Love" capture the joy of the natural world and its reflection of God's love and kindness.
God Is Love
(the link has two additional verses)
1. Earth, with her ten thousand flow’rs,
Air, with all its beams and show’rs,
Heaven’s infinite expanse,
Sea’s resplendent countenance—
All around and all above
Bear this record: God is love.
Text: Thomas R. Taylor, 1807–1835, alt.
Music: Thomas C. Griggs, 1845–1903
Ramona, I feel as if I have walked through the most glorious living-art gallery! These photos are breathtaking. So vivid that I can smell the fragrances... and I recall that Mother's Day tradition from childhood. My mother would clip little red rosebuds from a backyard bush for my sister and me, and she'd wear a larger red bud. I can recall being sad that my Grannie would have to wear a white rose. Funny how certain memories cling. That hymn is perfect, "Earth with her ten thousand flow'rs" as bearing record of God's love, that He IS love. Happy Mother's Day to you!
ReplyDeleteRamona, God is love, the one who brightens our days, our ceremonies, and life with resplendent flowers. Today, I got my new shipment of landscaping plants for my front garden. Knockout roses, deep pink-reddish and white azaleas, and a majestic cherry tree that will bloom next year. You proudly presented the blooms of joy that are found in your locale. Thanks for the walk through your neighborhoods.
ReplyDeleteSo beautiful!
ReplyDelete