Dear Reader:

Each day as I walk through my garden and smile at a new bloom or flower peeking up from the ground…I see God. The seeds of life are under the ground and reveal themselves as God’s Handiwork. I know I am walking on sacred ground…I am filled with God’s enveloping love in display…a gift to me and anyone else who walks the garden.

I have always found William Blake’s poetry hauntingly beautiful…many of his analogies leave me with “wonderosity“…a mixture of wonder and curiosity. (another new word to add to our list!)

I particularly love one line of Blake’s that says: “I am in you and you in me, mutual in divine love.”   I just happen to see God among my flowers in my garden…even my wildflowers…or as Blake commented “To see Heaven in a wildflower.”

The miracle of another Confederate Rose bloom and another “Dawn of Hope” camellia getting ready to bloom.

Finding God among all living things reminded me of a story from Bits and Pieces that dated back to 2015….the message is still important today.

“The Messiah is Among You.”

“A monastery fell upon hard times. Where it once was filled with monks and music of God’s praises; it now only housed a handful of old monks shuffling through the cloisters and praying quietly with heavy hearts. 

An old rabbi built a little hut near the monastery where he would go to pray. The monks welcomed him and considered themselves blessed by his presence. 

One day the abbot of the monastery visited the rabbi and poured our his heart to him. The rabbi listened and together they prayed. Then the rabbi spoke:

“You and your brothers are serving God with a heavy heart yet you should be joyous…for The Messiah is among you…he lives with you now.” He then made the abbot promise to tell this only one time to the other monks and never repeat it again.

With great excitement the abbot shared the good news with the other monks….exclaiming, “One of us is the Messiah.”

The monks were startled….what could this mean…Was it Brother John or Thomas…was it me?”

Time passed but this secret had a profound effect on the monastery. The monks began to treat each other with a special reverence. There was a gentle, wholehearted, human quality about them that was immediately noticed. 

Visitors found themselves moved by the life of joy and charity seen within the walls of the monastery. The number of people who came to see the enlightened monks grew stronger year after year. Joyous prayer and song rang out and echoed through its walls. 

No one ever saw the old rabbi again…he never returned but they always felt his presence.

……………………………………………………………………………………………….

So until tomorrow…

Wouldn’t our lives change drastically if we heard the Messiah lived in Summerville or anywhere else for that matter? We would be on our best behavior… not knowing if someone we bumped into might actually be the Messiah? Yes, the rabbi had spoken the truth. Christ in God does live among us…in fact so close to us we can hold His hand whenever we wish.

“Today is my favorite day”  Winnie the Pooh