Hope... in Process

I have read some excellent articles recently on hope and keeping hope in the process of walking through places that are difficult. Looking at these fresh colourful ranunculus and the espresso pots that produce wonderful strong rich cups of coffee sitting on our kitchen windowsill, I thought of how comfort and beauty keep hope alive.

We have decided to paint the main floor of our little house and because there is nowhere to move all the furniture it is being shifted incrementally around the room as my husband paints the walls! The dance of the furniture!! This is in preparation for bringing my beloved baby grand piano home again. It has been well used in the wonderful great room at Linwood House and it looks so beautiful there but...I have missed having it right here to play early in the morning or late at night, or in those moments when only creating music can give voice to what my soul needs to say. So we have shifted some furniture and are painting the room in preparation. The hope of having my piano available is so exciting for me.

Our home sits on just over 2 acres of land and it is completely surrounded by beautiful trees. We have our own inner sanctuary here with open spaces and a beautiful labyrinth that David built a number of years ago. Over the years the trees, of course, have grown and stretched and reached higher, and in their growing have also shut out some of the light. The garden patch sits in the shade most of the time and so in order to bring in more light, and to plant a garden, some trees needed to come down. What a mess it looks right now...over 20 trees are down, no longer vertical, but horizontal on the ground and splaying their dying limbs all over the garden. There is a lot of work to be done to take the little branches off and carry them to the perimeter of the property to continue building the berm, and then the trunks will need to be cut up into pieces for firewood, carried to the wood shed and stacked to provide the heat source for next winter! We can't see the lawn for the trees - never mind seeing the forest for the trees as they say!

There is chaos in the house and chaos in the garden but all of this is an essential part of the process of creating light, life and joy within our home and our lives. We are hoping for so much more to be added to how we live here, how we can eat, and how we relax and enjoy our home and allowing our creativity to take on an expanded life. Winter is still here, but there is hope for spring and the joy of the fruit of our labours in summer. Now even the hammock will be in the warmth of the sun instead of the coolness of the shade when it is hung up.

Winter is a time of stillness that is essential to movement. A few days ago there was snow but today I have discovered the fresh shoots of tulips, daffodils and crocus reaching up to greet the new season of life. The stillness often does not give visibility to the life that is held and waiting for the whisper that is hope to call it forth.

Colourful ranunculus and a strong cup of coffee - the endless wonder of natures beauty and those things we hold in our hands that comfort us. These are two things that speak of hope in the process of moving through whatever road we need to walk to move more deeply into our God given purpose. Seeing colour and the smell of good coffee also reminded me that God allows us to experience Holy Presence as we let our senses stay awake and alert. Stillness in places like Centering Prayer and our contemplative Taize service are another kind of wonder where the Spirit lets me experience the presence of the Trinity.

I smile as I stand at the kitchen window, surrounded by chaos that is both beauty and life in process.

"Love is my chosen food, my cup, holding me in its power.
Where I have come from,
Where'er I shall go,
Love is my birthright, my true estate."

From Psalm 16, Psalms for Praying
Translation by Nan C Merrill