Crammed with heaven

With moisture enough this early summer, the garden is looking lush and bearing produce: yesterday I picked the first crop of snow peas.

I continue to be amazed at creation - how is it that a small seed germinates, grows stalk and leaf and flower and fruit, and puts out seed to live again? Fascinating and miraculous. A great thought (borrowed, yet again, from friend Carl's collection) --

Earth is crammed with heaven,

And every common bush afire with God;
But only he who sees takes off his shoes;
The rest sit around and pluck blackberries.
- Elizabeth Barrett Browning
~

Just discovered: a blog named "Earth is crammed with heaven" with exquisite nature photography graced with rhyme or verse. Additionally, therein is a long list of online nature journals, and a list of free online resources.
To the right is a picture of Purple Viper's Bugloss (Echium plantagineum L.) from this site; for more, go to http://crammed-with-heaven.blogspot.com/.

For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities

—his eternal power and divine nature

—have been clearly seen,

being understood from what has been made,

so that men are without excuse.

~ Romans 1:20

Life-as-it-is

A GQ (good quote, or great quote - you can decide; passed along by friend Carl who reads voraciously):

Contrary to popular understanding, contemplation does not imply quietness or withdrawal. Instead, it is a quality of immediate, open presence that is directly involved with life-as-it-is.
-Gerald May...The Awakened Heart

"Life-as-it-is" in a lovely Peruvian orchid way.
Photographer: Seth

Eating habits

“One out of three dollars spent on health care, by some recent estimates, is paying for damage from bad eating habits.”

So says Barbara Kingsolver in her book Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life.

In these days of fast and ‘convenience’ foods (often highly processed and sugared), it seems easier to develop bad eating habits than good ones, even though we have access to plenty and varied whole foods. And once these bad habits are formed, it is difficult to change. I’ve recently listened to two books that inform on healthy food choices, and am motivated to make some changes in purchasing and preparing food. At our house we’re eating more whole grains, and fruits and vegetables, and I’m even thinking that organically grown (better yet locally grown) produce is worth the price, but big changes for me have been rather meager and slow. Still, I’m determined to keep at it.

One more number that has impacted me:

On a typical American plate, each food item has been transported, on average, 1500 miles.

[Animal, Vegetable, Miracle is about the author’s family experiment to buy only food raised in their own neighborhood, grow it themselves, or learn to live without it.
For more about the book, see http://www.kingsolver.com/bookshelf/miracle.asp]

So, more local and home-grown for me please, at least for these temperate days when it's so readily available!

Walking high

Walking give numerous highs. In the June 2008 issue of Health magazine (I'll admit right now: I've been doing only light and little bits of reading on wellness lately) I read these benefits of walking:

1) contributes to heart health -
in a recent study at Duke University Medical Center, researchers found that walking briskly for 30 minutes daily lowers odds of developing metabolic syndrome (cluster of factors linked to higher risks of heart disease, diabetes, and stroke);

2) cuts breast cancer risk -
a study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association found that walking -even for a few hours a week- significantly reduces breast cancer (by 10-30% depending on weight, in the study population of postmenopausal women in age range 50-79);

3) possibly helps sleep -
if walk is in late afternoon (avoid a walk 2 hours before bed), possibly by boosting feel-good hormone serotonin, or by raising body temperature;

4) makes you happier -
University of Texas researchers found that even one 30 minute walk may help relieve depression, anxiety, and stress. Walk more and there likely is a bigger boost: walking helps the body produce mood-boosting chemicals of endorphins; additionally, walking

5) cuts down on aches and pains;
6) keeps you slimmer;
7) staves off senior moments; and
8) protects bones.

I have an ulterior motive in writing about walking, and that is to display some cool pictures, taken by son Seth, while he and his wife Lea recently were walking high on the Inca trail in South America. [For a bit more info on Inca trail, go to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inca_road_system]
Whether in altitude, or in feeling the benefits of beauty or feel good or increased wellness, may all your walking be some form of high.

Like fruit

I like fruit, of all kinds.
A friend recently treated me to a dessert of mango in freshly squeezed lime juice with a sprinkling of chili pepper atop. I was pleasantly surprised in its taste. Last night we relished the more familiar sweetness of raspberries, blackberries, and strawberries.

Sweet physical fruit results from God's care and human tender harvesting: so also does good fruit mature in our lives (metaphorically) as a result of care and attention. Specifically, at least for me, love grows good fruit. The only way I’ve found to nurture the “good fruits” of love is to live in ways God suggests and to live by the enabling of His Spirit within. When I do so (and sadly, I most certainly don’t always do so!), I experience ripe fruit-like sweetness in my days.

These words from The Message paraphrase inform and encourage me; they describe the fruit of the Spirit – the ways that love manifests:

My counsel is this: Live freely,
animated and motivated by God’s Spirit.
Then you won’t feed the compulsions of selfishness…
what happens when we live God’s way? He brings gifts into our lives, much the same way that fruit appears in an orchard – things like affection for others, exuberance about life, serenity.
We develop a willingness to stick with things,
a sense of compassion in the heart, and
a conviction that basic holiness
permeates things and people,
we find ourselves involved in loyal commitments,
not needing to force our way in life,
able to marshal and direct our energies wisely.
- Galatians 5: 16, 22, 23

[Just in case you want to know a bit about mango selection: "We try to buy the ones showing the most yellow. We then store them on our counter top with bananas, which seem to help ripen the mangos. When ripe, the mango will become slightly soft, and the skin will often begin to show a slight wrinkling." ]
Text from http://www.all-creatures.org/recipes/fruit-mango.html. Mango picture from http://hawaiirama.com

How is this about love?

“How is this about love?” has been a question on my mind and heart lately.

Along with studying for my final exam of a statistics class (that has consumed much of my discretionary time in the last 10 weeks; um hmm, I'm counting), I am also doing some fretting over the exam. Yes, sadly I am: even though, I quickly tell myself and family, I don’t need “the grade,” nor have any need to fear doing badly.

In asking myself where love is – as I anticipate this statistics test – I realize that I can choose my focus. It can be on either achieving a high grade, OR on aiming to learn concepts that will enable me to interpret research accurately and share what’s learned in hopes of ultimately increasing wellness in myself and others.

It seems that love would have me do the latter. That change in focus makes a difference – in my body (decrease in stress hormones, fewer frenetic movements), in my emotions (less irritable, more settled, increase in calm), and in my spirit (release of needing accomplishment, openness to significance beyond a grade, ability to be present in the moment). Love takes me to a better place.

God is love. When we take up permanent residence in a life of love, we live in God and God lives in us… Well-formed love banishes fear. Since fear is crippling, a fearful life – fear of death, fear of judgment – is one not yet fully formed in love.
We, though, are going to love – love and be loved.
First we were loved, now we love. He loved us first.
- I John 4: 16, 18, 19

I invite you too to ask:
How have my moments this day been about love?

“Where there is no love, put love, and you will find love.”
- John of the Cross