Petal by Fascinating Petal

 

Wisdom does not automatically

come with old age.

The young closed mind

can easily become

the old closed mind.

But I am blessed to have friends who,

as they’ve aged,

have opened

like roses unfolding

petal by fascinating petal,

revealing the beauty of wisdom

born of years of

patience,

pain,

experience.

The opening of the petaled heart

is a kind of letting go—

letting go of demands,

of expectations,

of self-importance,

of the arrogance of certainty—

and settling into the easy breath

of not knowing,

of receiving what is and

releasing the rosy scent of love,

and joy,

and peace

into the world.

Wisdom does not automatically come

with old age,

but old age is often where

wisdom dwells.

– kh –

 

Nurture peace, cultivate kindness, and carry the calm.

 

Nature from the last snow:

Shadow of the week:

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Text and photos © 2024 Karyn Henley. All rights reserved.

The In-Between Times

 

I woke to birdsong this morning,

a good-morning melody

welcoming the silver-gray light

weaving through the clouds and soft rain

of these in-between days

that bridge winter and spring

and seem so random—

today frosty, possible snow,

tomorrow warm, a hug of sunshine.

New blooms have appeared

on the neighbor’s hellebore,

Lenten roses right on time.

Purple crocuses have smiled open

under the magnolia,

a bit of yellow peeks from a drift of daffodils

under the hackberry,

all cheering me

in these between times.

And truly, we are always in between—

between starting and finishing,

between losing and finding,

between our last step and our next step.

Isn’t it the same with people as with nature?

There are those who bloom

in the in-between times,

those who are our crocuses,

our daffodils,

our Lenten roses,

whose mere presence is a sign of hope,

good cheer,

encouragement

in between the loss of what was

and the uncertainty of what will be,

those who ground us in the present moment

of the in-between.

Thank God for our crocuses,

our daffodils,

our Lenten roses.

Thank God for our in-between friends.

–kh–

Nurture peace, cultivate kindness, and carry the calm.

Nature of the week:

Shadow of the week:

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Text and photos © 2024 Karyn Henley. All rights reserved.

Courage, Gaiety, and the Quiet Mind

Happy New Year!

“Give us grace and strength to persevere. Give us courage and gaiety and the quiet mind. Spare to us our friends and soften to us our enemies. Give us the strength to encounter that which is to come, that we may be brave in peril, constant in tribulation, temperate in wrath and in all changes of fortune, and down to the gates of death loyal and loving to one another.” – Robert Louis Stevenson

Nurture peace, cultivate kindness, and carry the calm.

 

Nature of the week:

Shadow of the Week—a rope fence at the zoo:

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Text and photos © 2021 Karyn Henley. All rights reserved.

A Safe Space

“Hospitality is . . .

the creation of a safe, inviting, trustworthy space

– an atmosphere as much as a place.”

– Krista Tippett* –

 

Nourish peace, cultivate loving kindness, and carry the calm into your gatherings with family and friends. May you yourself be a safe inviting, trustworthy space. May you be hospitality.

Nature of the week – sun through leaves creates a stained-glass window effect:

stndglslvs1

Shadow of the Week – morning shadows on my kitchen blinds:

shdwblinds

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For my posts on coming of age in a community of faith, link here.

*From On Being‘s Civil Conversations project, which I highly recommend.

Text and photos © 2016 Karyn Henley. All rights reserved.

 

In Nature’s Cathedral