January 16, 2022

GREEN

 
I lived in community with a guy who loved to do jigsaw puzzles.  I thought he was  wasting his time.  I didn’t say my thoughts out loud.
 
In time I heard things from him like: “It’s a great way to relax.”
 
One day he said, “I think of things I never thought about before I started to do these puzzles.”
 
“For example?” I asked.
 
“I never noticed the variations and shades of green there are.”
 
Then he added, “Now when I’m driving down the highway I see all sorts of green – all kinds of shades of green – and often it depends on what time of the day it is."
 
Green ….
 
After that comment I began to notice all sorts of green.
 
Green is just an abstraction.
 
In the specific, there is the green of grapes and the green of apples and tomatoes before they are ripe.
 
There’s the green of indoor plants – the ones with speckled yellow green leaves. 

How about a Sansevieria plant - also known as snake plants and  "Mother-in-law's tongue"? They have a good variety of greens.

There’s the green of evergreen trees – but that varies depending on whether it’s new growth or the branches neat the bottom – or how close they are to the trunk.

 
I never noticed the different shades of green in advertisements.  Red, yes. Blue, yes. Yellow yes. Green, no.
 
Now it’s usually green.
 
That was a while back when this about green happened. Then came the moment.  It was a Sunday morning.  It was raining. I had a window seat. The plane I was on came over the waters.  There was Ireland. Rocks. Fields. There was the place I never saw before – the place where my mom and dad were born and grew up. There was Shannon airport.
 
I got off and saw a hundred shades of green – especially wet green grass.
 
I wondered all week why they left here and came to the United States as Green Horns.

 

© Andy Costello, Reflections 2022 

January  16,  2022

 

Thought for Today

 

“Colors.  Would it be green or blue today?  Maybe white – my favorite. A dark voice in the back of my mind offered no color at all as an alternative. I smothered that voice.  The days of no color were simply too hard to bear. I needed color today.” 

 

Julie Hockley

January 15, 2015

 

WAITING ON PROMISES

 
Waiting….
 
Much of life is waiting – on lines – for children – for supper – for love – for sleep – for the dawn.
 
Promises.
 
In order to be able to wait, to have the patience to wait, I need to have heard a promise or to believe in a promise.
 
Otherwise we wouldn’t get on the line.  We wouldn’t wait in the rain in hopes of getting the ticket.
 
Promises.
 
We wait for a loved one to return.
 
The father waited for the Prodigal Son to return – and he did return – to home, reconnection, family, the Kingdom underneath it all – even though he was bleeding, cut, hurt, needy,  humbled, less.
 
Resurrection.
 
We know there is resurrection - based on a promise by Jesus.
 
We know Jesus would return - based on a promise.
 
We know Jesus  is present – based on a promise.
 
Promises….
 
Waiting for the sun to rise – after a long night – after years of sin – after years of darkness – after years of refusing to wait.
 
Here I am Lord – standing on line – hoping to get home  - waiting for love, to feel the embrace of arms, hungry for the fatted calf, a washing, the garment, bread, wine, understanding, love.
 
Thank God, the line is so long. Thank God, the traffic is so heavy.  It means I’m not the only one. There are all these other people heading home – who are relying on a promise.
 
Waiting …. Learning how to wait – that’s a life learning.
 
So I guess that’s why the scriptures, that’s why the Gospels, are pointing out why all these people are waiting with the promise of the Bridegroom, the Messiah, to come.
 

© Andy Costello, Reflections 2022

January  15,  2022

 

 

 

Thought for Today

 

 

“Injustice is relatively easy to bear; what stings is justice.”

 

 

H. L. Mencken

Prejudices

January  14,  2022 

A PERSONAL  RELIGION

 
I begin life with no say in the matter – a seed and an egg – planted in my mother’s womb.
 
It’s as simple as that.
 
I end life with little say in the matter – dust and bone – planted in the under-ground – in mother earth – in a tomb.
 
And in between those two moments – birth and death – I can become conscious. 
 
About: life.  About:  the gift of life.   Why me?
 
And I spend my life figuring -  chasing – and doing more figuring – about family, work, religion, relationships, commuting, weekends, sports, reading, education, exercise, etc., etc., etc.
 
Life.
 
Love.  The different people I have met.  Relationships…. Discoveries …. People I like…. People who have taught me so much…. People who are fascinating, different, interesting ….
 
Life. Love. Light.
 
I search for meaning – to become enlightened.  I look into religions for deeper understandings – turning corners – a second, third, and  fourth looks -  and many times – where I have been before seems  so, so different – than before  - the older I get.
 
Christianity …. Judaism …. Muslim …. Buddhism …. Hinduism …. Atheism ….
 
Ideas …. Nuances …. Challenges ….
 
I spend time thinking that religion is ideas, systems, theology, teaching, organization.
 
Jesus.
 
I discover Jesus as a person – not just a word or words in a Bible – but as word made flesh – dwelling among us – a person – a presence to wrap my life around.
 
“Religion” – as someone described it: “It’s what you wrap your life around.”
 
Jesus: Life….  Light….  Love,,,.
 
Jesus: the one who promises to be there after I become dust and disappearance – distance – when I am on  the other side of the tomb.

 

© Andy Costello, Reflections 2022ection

January  14,  2022

 

Thought for Today

 

“Fiction reveals truths that realty obscures.”

 

Jessamyn West

 January 13,  2022

ANCHORS  AWAY

 

The anchor is a symbol of hope – hope that our ships will  reach shore – hope that we’ll get to our harbor.

 

Faith is the call to pull up anchor and launch out into the deep.

 

Faith is the call to leave all – lift our anchor – and our nets – and to  set sail with the carpenter.

 

Faith is a journey  - a voyage – to the other side – to what we can’t see – into the unknown – sailing through the eye of the needle – into the great unknown.

 

Then in the middle of trip – in the middle of a storm – Jesus is sleeping through it all.  Jesus is sleeping while we are afraid and awake. What about his promise to be with us all days – even to the end of the world?

 

Anchors away.

 

The history of the world for many is a history of migration and movement, pulling stakes and anchors – and seeing sail for newer shores.

 

Taking a risk – trying something new – entering a new field – that’s the stuff of adventure – discovery.

 

Leaving home for college – for the military – for a new job – in a far country – can be a scary question.

 

Death is the ultimate voyage.  We take nothing with us. We swim naked into the great unknown – plunged into the dark waters  - tossed by the great waves – surrounded by all those others who also died that day.

 

Faith is the only anchor.  Faith is our hope. Jesus went before us and in these days – this Jonah arrived on the shore of eternity – the Risen One – still with us all days.

  

© Andy Costello, Reflections 2022