the ordinary

A long walk yesterday through the City with various appointments and a little shopping seemed to be pretty much the ordinary. A brief and blessed little downpour made it very much like Spring, though. I passed a gardener’s truck with some plants on their way to a new home and saw for the first time since my childhood a beautiful type of woodbine--the sort without flowers. Then, a bit of cheerful noise from a playground and a nursery school’s children were running through the wet grass, frolicking with a dog who seemed to be part of their entourage. And, finally, I was stopped by a lovely little front garden with blooming iris. I did not have my camera, so I am substituting this beautiful Iris that I saw earlier this month at the SF Botanical Garden. Sometimes it is enough to just get out into your world!

changeless

The passiflora incarnata was seen by missionaries in the New World as a symbol of the passion of Christ and as a positive omen for their missionary work. This photo was taken in the San Francisco Botanical Garden last week.

Holy Week brings the transitions and changes in life to an astonishing focus. The passion of Christ, even as a myth or story, reminds us that the daily cares, losses, joys are for a short time. This too shall pass. One of the prayers in the Episcopal daily office asks that “we who are wearied by the changes and chances of this life” find comfort in knowing that ultimately there is “changlessness”. This theme is central to many of the major religious traditions…in fact, seems as much Buddhist as Episcopalian!

It is thrilling to see each bud, each flowering tree showing newness, but still much like I remember from years past when observing the same plants in my garden. Seems like a window into “changelessness”. May both the Easter season and the transition from winter bring comfort and even joy in rebirth.