“the experience of hearing Judy Garland sing ‘Over the Rainbow.’ When the song and the credits end, I am left with the feeling that ought to be a paradise, and I am reminded of C.S. Lewis’s famous quote: ‘If I find in myself a desire which no experience in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that I was made for another world.’ We do not need to only participate in dark or troubling stories, but we do need to give priority to stories that haunt us, unsettle us, and expand us, whether through beauty and delight or tragedy. We also need to make time and space to interpret the stories through dialogue with others. Living in an atomistic culture, our default response to receiving a story is not to interpret it in community. We may have a personal opinion about it. We may tweet a 280 character review. We may debate parts of the story. But most of us are not inclined to take the time to slowly work through the meanings of the story and dialogue with one another. In other words, the prolonged, thoughtful, charitable dialogue about stories I’m recommending will not happen naturally. We need to intentionally pursue it.”
Alan Noble Disruptive Witness
Oh, glorious! I love every version of these buds and blossoms with their contrasting stems and leaves. Your camera returns to me the visual acuity of childhood when blossoms’ colours and textures mapped a miniature geography. Somewhat like the bee with its multifaceted view of late-summer nectar sources, I bask in the still-warm sunshine while memorizing the hot, veined colours, hiving them for sustenance over inevitable winter.
Laurna – 🙂 I read recently that the reason time seems to speed up as we get older is that we’ve been there, done that, seen it all before. As a result, we don’t pay attention in the same way, and don’t lay down detailed memories as we go through our days. When we look back, we literally have fewer memories that mark the past year. I don’t know how much there is to this theory/explanation, but it makes some intuitive sense.
An interesting thesis from someone who apparently does not have the Helene-like hurricanes to deal with that pummel this family! I think the losses of attention on my part have something to do with the mud and destruction scattered about in the wake of such events. I should have commented, also, on the beautiful poem about prayer by Mary Oliver. I suppose some of my prayers are the poems, occasionally of the “blue iris” variety. But I notice that the “down in the vacant lot weeds” sorts of prayers are answered just as swiftly. My way also has been marked by gigantic miracles of the sort that allow KK to sing “Why Me, Lord?” Now, there’s a treasure trove to turn to on a dark day!
Laurna – I think the thought about paying attention had to do with “being in the moment” as we say these days. Being overwhelmed by collateral mud/destruction would have its own effect on our memory banks, I’m sure. And sometimes “more” is not “better.”
Something that my eye never saw until recently: A wasp had trapped and was eating a fly.
Tom
Tom – Nature, red in tooth and claw.
Nice photo lesson Isabel!!
Hollyhock?
Jim – Thanks, and yes, I think so.