Balance ...

taken by Sue Pickering 2004

We visited this neolithic monument  Pentre Ifan, in Wales in 2004 and since then it has often reminded me about balance, particularly as I've tried to do justice to the various people and things that matter to me, and to express what I am called to do or be over the years.
But as I age the picture has begun to speak  to me about the precarious nature of life: as our planet struggles to survive, as friends become unwell and die, and as my own capacity to do what I've always done diminishes. It would be easy to despair - to allow it all to overwhelm me as I attend or conduct yet another funeral for a someone special,  as I watch the increasingly urgent calls for climate action, as I look at my 1 yr old  grandson and wonder about his future, and as I try to extricate myself from the expectations of others and of myself. 

Today though, as I was reflecting again on this picture, a new perspective of Pentre Ifan emerged, a way of looking that  has to do with being upheld by the three Persons of the Holy Trinity :
Lover, Beloved and Love itself holding me - holding each one of us - with perfect poise and deep strength from everlasting to everlasting.

And that brings me hope - may it bring you hope too.

BALANCE and BEAUTY

BALANCE and BEAUTY

The walkway by the Tasman Sea is a favourite place - always a different combination of sea conditions, sky, birds, people, dogs, wind, prams and bikes. One thing that seems always to be the same however, is the rocky edge, countless boulders put in place to repel the wild power of the waves and only occasionally breached by a super strong storm surge or king tide. 

But I was in for a surprise a few days ago when I was walking with my husband and dog and discovered that someone had been rock-scaping, building stone sculptures along the sea front.

Stone on stone, no glue, no wire, 
just stone on stone. 

Balance and beauty.

Over a hundred examples of two young men's careful selection, imagination, patience, and persistence, all imbued with a sense of joy and delight, playfulness and pleasure - for the makers and those who wandered past and marveled.

And as I stood and took it all in I was reminded of my own need to play and the challenge of maintaining balance in the midst of a full life. It's a common plight - too much to do, and too little time. It would be easy to work all the hours that God sends, but I'm finally beginning to discover the value of little practices such as turning off the laptop at 5pm and the freedom a Sabbath day on a Wednesday [Sunday's often a 'workday'] can bring. Better late than never!

As I write this now, I'm also a bit more aware of the joy and delight with which the divine energy , whom I name as God made visible in Jesus, spoke the Creation into being. And what a blessing it is - to us - and to the 'Love which makes the world go round' - when something as seemingly simple as stone upon stone, can reflect the creative energy with which we are all born. 

That creativity - whether it's expressed in making music, gardening, quilting, writing, cooking, crafting, problem-solving, making a little go a long way, building something large or small, or in countless other ways - can help us nurture a balanced life, because creativity comes from God who wants only what is best for each one of us.

Time for me to go and start a new quilt!

What will it be for you?