real love

“Everything in this life passes away…
only God remains,
only He is worth struggling towards.
We have a choice:
to follow the way of this world, of the society that surrounds us,
and thereby find ourselves outside of God;
or
to choose the way of life, to choose God Who calls us and for Whom our heart is searching.”
Seraphim Rose

(Mother’s 35 year old tea rose bush / Julie Cook 2016)

Driving over to Dad’s yesterday morning I spotted a sign outside of a church which read:

Real love has no ending…

I don’t think I’ve ever read a better sign.

By earthly standards we know all too well that there are endings…
For earthly love does indeed seem to end….

It may end sad, maybe even bad…
because there really is no such thing as a happy ending,
by earthly standards…

Because even that happy or enduring sort of love here on Earth,
dies away….

We call that life…
and death….
as in,
there’s a beginning…
and there’s…
the end….

But here’s the thing…love that reaches beyond the boundaries of this earth…
well, that is both happy and never ending…
We call that, perfect Love….

See from His head, His hands, His feet,
Sorrow and love flow mingled down!
Did e’er such love and sorrow meet,
Or thorns compose so rich a crown?

Were the whole realm of nature mine,
That were a present far too small;
Love so amazing, so divine,
Demands my soul, my life, my all.

Isaac Watts,
Stanzas 3 and 4 When I Survey The Wondrous Cross , 1707

This time of year

When the year dies in preparation for the birth
Of other seasons, not the same, on the same earth,
Then saving and calamity go together make
The Advent gospel, telling how the heart will break.
Therefore it was in Advent that the Quest began…
C.S. Lewis, Launcelot

(a December’s fading light / Carrollton, GA / Julie Cook / 2015)

And just like that the passing of a season has quickly come and gone…
as the taking stock of another year has all too soon begun.
With the sun resting lower against a sagging horizon, as evening shadows grow ever long…
we pull our jackets and sweaters a bit tighter as we hurry our way along.

With the time for merriment quickly filling the air, a waning season holds fast and tight.
We hurriedly now race from here to there seeking good cheer on a cold winter’s night.
With gifts being bought and packages to send…expectation quickly fills air.
Our hearts grow a bit bigger as our eyes grow wider under the whisper of each tiny prayer.

Endings bring about beginnings as the the second candle is silently lit.
While those captives of ages past now recite the holy writ.
With festivities quickly underway and hearts now merry and bright,
our hopes and fears have met again during the course a single winter’s night.

With the cards having all been written and the invitations quickly sent,
well wishes and good tidings are the sentiments now kindly meant.
The carolers have gathered together offering their glad wishes to those who give ear,
As their songs once again offer up hope and joy to a suffering world this mystical time of year.

“Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, a virgin will be with child and bear a son, and she will call His name Immanuel.
Isaiah 7:14

Endings and Beginnings

What we call the beginning is often the end. And to make an end is to make a beginning. The end is where we start from.
T. S. Eliot

Ahh…and so it is with each passing season of life……

Here are the dregs of the garden. The last remaining diehard eggplants have been cut. The soil shall be re-tilled and over-planted in winter rye for the deer to nibble on throughout the winter.

The ending of what remains from summer now gives way to cooler evenings and the soon to be blooming Chrysanthemums…

As we find ourselves in this time of transition– of endings and beginnings, I can’t help but think of changes–changes that are beyond our control such as the seasons of growing and dying, and then the changes that are within our control such as changes of habits and outlooks.

The following is an epitaph that is inscribed upon one of the myriad of bishop’s graves who lay buried within the hallows of Westminster Abbey, it dates to 1100 AD—a good thought as we focus on this time of Change……

“When I was young and free and my imagination had no limits, I dreamed of changing the world. As I grew older and wiser, I discovered the world would not change, so I shortened my sights somewhat and decided to change only my country. But, it too seemed immovable. As I grew into my twilight years, in one last desperate attempt, I settled for changing only family, those closest to me, but alas, they would have none of it. And now as I lie on my deathbed, I suddenly realize, if I had only changed myself first, then by example I would have changed my family. From their inspiration and encouragement, I would have then been able to better my country, and who knows,
I may even have changed the world.”