Tag: Inspiration in nature

Experiencing Community, Living Simply, Memoirs, Nature Writings, Offering HOPE

A Tale of Two Creeks

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(I first wrote and published this post 7 years ago. But the subjects treated here provide needed reminders in these troubled times.)

The two creeks I have in mind don’t surge or produce whitewater. In fact, much of the year, they trickle…through prairie and grassland, over rises and around bends…ever moving, ever adjusting, fed by waters originating in the heights of the snow-capped Rocky Mountains, bringing life and sustenance to more remote, insignificant places.

Neither of these creeks flows through prime real estate attracting big-name land speculators and developers. Yet each has a story to tell of life and death, and of refuge seekers. Each has reflected the faces of generations as they laughed and cried, worked and prayed. And each of these creeks has received the blood, sweat, and tears shed there.

What stories these creeks could—and do—tell:  of community…of clashing and contrasting worldviews, lifestyles, and civilizations…of promises and lies, of seeking and finding, of celebrating and mourning.

Big Sandy Creek is noted for being the location of the Sand Creek Massacre of 1864 in southeastern Colorado. These days, long stretches of this creek appear dry on the surface, but water still flows underground. (A good reminder to us that some things may seem lost or forgotten, but their presence and effects still linger.) John Buzzard’s novel, That Day by the Creek, portrays the hopes and dreams, clashes and conflicts that culminated in the Sand Creek Massacre. There, the tragic, wrongful deaths of a remnant of oppressed human beings surely caused the life-giving Spirit of God to weep. One can imagine that God’s tears mingled with Cheyenne and Arapaho blood flowing into the shores and waters of Sand Creek.

Little Kitten Creek, which flows near Manhattan Kansas, is the namesake of the country road on which Nancy Swihart and her husband, Judd, settled and founded a life-affirming, loving community. Nancy’s memoir, On Kitten Creek, paints the picture of their migration from L.A. “in search of the sacred” in their daily lives, guided by the desire to live simply and Christ-centered. They creatively consecrated and used the land, the farm animals, and the buildings, including a big barn that hosted concerts, conferences and a dramatized Nativity. There, on what had been a dilapidated old farm straddling Kitten Creek, life-giving waters have flowed from the Spirit of God and touched thousands of lives through the years.

A tale of two creeks, two stories of the land, the people, the times—reminding us that God is with us, working in seen and unseen ways to bring good out of rocks and ruins.

Even though the Waters of Life seem at times to flow only in a trickle, or hidden underground, they will never stop until the day finally comes when all things are made new.

 

Photo by Nashwan guherzi on Pexels.com

God and Creation, Nature Writings, Nurturing Wonder, Prayer

A Summer Path of Devotion

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When all our honeybees died one winter, my husband and I decided our beekeeping days were over. The time had come to take out the hives in the corner flower garden and use the extra space to add a foot path through flowers, grasses, and shrubs. During the summer months, this simple, curving garden path became my early morning prayer walk.

In the cool of the day, I stand and gaze at the flower faces glistening and opening petals to morning sun, and my heart opens to Creator God, the same one who walked in the garden with Adam and Eve. It seems God is still dwelling, revealing, and walking in gardens.

What I experience is an awareness that God is walking the path with me, helping me start each morning in fellowship with his ever-creative, self-giving, empowering presence.

After breakfast and coffee, and just before I step onto the path, I wait, in a moment of listening, for today’s focus of prayer. One day it is thankfulness. With each two steps I say (and mean) “Thank you” (stepping with left foot) “for family” (with right). Left always the same. Right includes: fresh new mornings, God’s mercies, colors of flowers, people to love and serve, a faithful dog staying close, gentle breezes giving relief from heat, hope continually rising.

Another day, loved ones come distinctly to mind, and I picture them each in their places, facing their particular challenges. With each two steps I intercede for individual family members and friends. I often feel a real sense of participating in God’s purposes, asking in his will, that God’s heart is hearing my heart as I seek to hear his.

One morning, as the first rays of the rising sun shimmered through translucent petals, leaves glowed and dew drops sparkled, my heart lifted in praise. I felt God’s smile through the newness and beauty of life around me. With each set of left-right steps (taken slowly, savoringly) I spoke the praise I felt for God’s beauty, mercy, constancy, and for the way he offers new possibilities amidst the unfolding of each day.

Some morning prayer walks have included confession, as well as release and surrender.

I miss having a garden beehive with its fresh honey; but we enjoy observing the wide variety of native pollinators that visit our garden flowers. It has also become a welcoming prayer garden where faith and hope are pollinated. And starting my day with a few moments of prayerful communion in nature, is as sweet as honey.

~Catherine

If you enjoyed this post, I think you’ll enjoy reading my books:

Write & Publish Organically: Dig Deep, Tend the Soil, Help Newness Emerge

Glimpsing Glory: Poems of Living & Dying, Praying & Playing, Belonging & Longing

Remembering Softly: A Life In Poems

~

Note: I am re-posting this meditation, a slightly edited version of the post that first appeared in 2019 at: Godspace and then here.

Authentic Faith, Following Jesus, God and Creation, Jesus, Nature Writings

Me? Like a Sheep?

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Lamb-2

I think I hear some of my readers commenting:

“Lambs are cute and woolly, and all that. But aren’t sheep ‘dumb’ and helpless creatures? I’m not sure I want to be like a sheep.”

In answer, I’ll offer a few tantalizing, biblical tidbits:

“I am the Good Shepherd.”

“My sheep hear my voice.”

“Like sheep without a shepherd”

“Beware of wolves in sheep’s clothing.”

“He leads me beside still waters.”

“We are his people, the sheep of his pasture.”

“We all, like sheep, have gone astray.”

“I lay down my life for the sheep.”

“Oh…. Well. When you put it that way … I’ll follow Jesus like a sheep if that’s what it takes to hear God’s voice and enjoy those green pastures and still waters. Of course I want to live the life he made possible by laying down his own. … But, what does that mean in real life? How does this sheep thing work?”

I’m glad you asked. God gave us this picture of sheep and pastures. However, it is hard for us to fathom such love and all the nuances of a lamb-like life of trust. So we look to the example of human shepherds. Those earthy, mucking-in-the-barn and traipsing-in-the-pastures, shepherds know sheep. They can tell us a lot about the woolly creatures the Bible says we are like.

“I’ll bet those shepherds could tell some stories! Even from Jesus’ parables, it sounds like sheep can get into a lot of trouble.”

In fact, I have two friends who are shepherds of sheep. Their names are Marilyn and Millie, two women who have raised thousands of lambs and tended flocks on their farms in Colorado. They have given names to many of their lambs and gotten to know their individual sheep quirks and personalities. They’ve nursed sick sheep, bottle-fed orphan lambs, called flocks in from the pasture, protected them from marauding dogs and hungry coyotes. They’ve laughed at sheep antics and cried over their losses and vulnerabilities.

“I’d like to meet those shepherdesses and visit the sheep farm, but I don’t suppose I ever will.”

Oh, you can! Vicariously! Just read Marilyn and Millie’s book of sheep stories in All We Like Sheep : Lessons from the Sheepfold. They’ll even help you better understand how to follow the Good Shepherd “like a sheep of his pasture.”

“Great! Where can I get this book of sheep stories?”

Glad you asked. Just click: https://cladach.com/all-we-like-sheep/

Remember, keep listening for the gentle voice of our trustworthy Shepherd.

Art in Books, Book Publishing, Fiction, Nature Writings, Trends in Publishing

Why Animals Touch Our Hearts

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animals in a meadow

Photos of furry creatures … videos of cute animal antics … stories and movies of animal adventures. These are popular because they evoke feelings of wonder, memories of beloved pets, the joy and excitement of wildlife sightings, the sensory experience of a trip to the farm.

Have you ever noticed how many book covers feature pictures of animals? Evidently, animal pictures on covers help sell books. We have a few books with animals on the covers, ourselves. I looked inside each of these books for some clues as to why animals trigger such heart responses in us.

Here is what I found:

1.  Animals are our fellow creatures, loved by the Creator.

God'sCreaturesIn God’s Creatures: A Biblical View of Animals, Susan Bulanda explains that God cares for his earthly creatures. He created them, blessed them, called them “good.” He saved the animals from the Flood, and he included “every living creature” in the covenant he made with us after the flood (see Genesis 9:9-17). Bulanda goes on to show that many Scriptures display God’s care for animals. Old Testament laws protected animals. Jesus’ parables affirmed and spotlighted them. Then, Bulanda asks:

“Is it possible that God has put the desire to care for all animals in the hearts of many people … God’s love for his creation showing through humans?”

and

“Could there be subtle lessons of love God gives us through our pets?”

2.  Animals can provide companionship, inspiration, and comfort.

Walking-in-TrustIn Walking In Trust : Lessons Learned with my Blind Dog, Gayle M. Irwin describes an afternoon of companionship with her dog:

“Snow falls in large flakes outside my door this afternoon and a warm Sunday fire blazes in the wood stove inside the house. Sage has found a way to wedge herself into the over-stuffed chair. At first she lies quietly stretched out beside me. Then, as if she has an itch, she suddenly rises, turns herself around and lays her head on my chest. I pause from my reading to softly stroke her black and white fur. She sighs deeply and tries to snuggle closer. I pet her long muzzle and then scratch behind her ears, a favorite spot of hers. As I minister these gentle strokes, I tell her what a wonderful, loving dog she is. Sage closes her eyes, relishing the experience. I, too, bask in the tender moment. My hand rests lightly on her shoulder and we sit like this for hours—protected from the frigid cold outside—in comfortable, companionable silence inside our cozy house.” … “I learned more from Sage than she did from me: lessons about trust, courage, loyalty, contentment, and perseverance.” … “Sage’s visits and her life story encouraged many children to persevere in spite of the hardships and challenges they face. Through the life of a blind Springer Spaniel, I have learned more fully what it means to walk by faith and not by sight.” (p. 145 and 9)

3.  Animals teach us about the Creator and how to relate to him.

In All We Like Sheep: Lessons from the Sheepfold, shepherdess Marilyn Bay Wentz writes:

“I continued cutting out the weeds, but the burdensome task was balanced with the delight I felt watching my flock. I knew the serenity of the scene could be broken at any time. Movement as mundane as a startled Cottontail rabbit jumping from behind a bush to hop across the pasture could send the flock running for the protection of the pen. … In that moment, the joy of the Lord, expressed by the psalmist when he said ‘We are his people, the sheep of his pasture,’ made perfect sense to me. God compares his delight in me and you to a flock of peacefully-grazing sheep. He could have compared his delight to another animal in his creation. Why not say we are his people, the horses of his stable? Horses (which I am partial to) are beautiful, strong and fast. Surely, the Lord delights in seeing the horses he created. Or, why not compare his delight in us to that of seeing a lion? Male or female, a lion is a powerful and awe-inspiring animal. Or, surely the Lord is delighted to see the soaring eagles he created. They are simultaneously fierce and beautiful. They can soar high and dive powerfully. Their outstretched wings are a wonder to behold. But, he says I am as pleasing to him as the sheep of his pasture. To please him we don’t need to be fast and athletic like a horse, powerful like a lion, or beautiful and awe-inspiring like an eagle. What pleases him is when we, like the skittish sheep, run to him for everything we need, trusting his sufficiency to supply all our needs.” (pp. 156-157)

4.  Animals provide metaphors of our lives.

Dangerous-JourneyIn his allegorical fiction, The Dangerous Journey of Sherman the Sheep, Dean Davis describes the Shepherd taking his flock to the “high country”:

“Their destination was a lonely valley deep in the hills and an ancient sheepfold with four high walls of stone. This became their home away from home, the place where all their journeys began and ended. Early in the year, when grass was plentiful, their travels were short, hardly more than outings. At dawn the Shepherd would open the gate of the fold, whistle for the sheep, and lead His flock to a nearby meadow with a pool of fresh spring water to drink. Then at dusk they would all return to the safety of the fold’s strong walls. But as spring gave way to summer, and summer to fall, the journeys grew longer and more difficult. They’d be gone for many days, camping beneath the stars or in caves. The meadows grew fewer and the water more scarce—and to find these, the flock had often to follow their Shepherd through dark, narrow canyons, where wolves or lions might be lurking in the shadows. … Yes, this was the dangerous time of year, a time when sheep could get hungry, thirsty, or even hurt. Needless to say, the Shepherd took such dangers very seriously. But as for the sheep, they simply trusted in their Master’s care. They knew that sooner or later He would give them rest, just as He always had. (And as for Sherman—well, for him danger was just another word for adventure; and adventure was the one thing Sherman loved best)!” (pp. 8-10)

5.  Animals represent elements of Mystery.

In Gadly Plain: A Novel, J. Michael Dew uses the literary device of a talking donkey who has lived since the Garden of Eden. This donkey represents the victory of life over death, of God’s overarching purpose in human history. This same donkey had gone up the mountain with Abraham and Isaac, had talked to the prophet Balaam, joined the other animals in Noah’s Ark, carried Mary to Bethlehem and witnessed the birth of Jesus. Toward the end of the book, the donkey, who is named Amen, is on the Isle of Patmos with John the Apostle. Amen and John share this conversation:

“Amen,” John says one day. “I have a story to share, a new one as fresh as a spring blossom.”
“My ears, friend, are big,” says Amen.
“I have seen the end and the beginning, the omega and the alpha. I have written it on a scroll. There is something you should hear.” … (Read the novel for more…

6.  Animals give us friendship and inspire our awe.

Since this post was first published we have released a new title about The Animals In Our Lives: Stories of Companionship and Awe, with stories contributed by many Cladach authors and friends. (Click the title or the cover image to learn more.)

We thank God for the varied and wonderful world of animals both domestic and wild!

 

 

Advent / Christmas, God and Creation, Holiday Reading, Incarnation, Nature Writings, Nurturing Wonder, Offering HOPE, Seasons

Stories for Celebrating Advent and Christmas

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Celebrating the season of Advent and Christmas calls for stories that are not only cozy, but filled with courage, wonder and hope even in wintry times.

An Enchanting, Illustrated Story-in-Verse for children—and for adults with childlike hearts—who enjoy a Fresh Perspective on Advent, and for those who enjoy experiencing God in nature. In full color:

(Click covers to learn more.)

An Exciting Adventure Novella for Youth and Adults ~ Set in 1864 Frontier Colorado:

White-as-Snow

A delightful, unique, and reverent short-short Christmas Nativity Story (written from the viewpoint of Mary’s donkey). Available only on Kindle:

From noted and accomplished poet, Mary Harwell Sayler, a collection of poems for every holy day, including a section for Christmas:

praise-front-cover

A blessed Advent Season to all our friends, readers, and customers.

Engaging Culture, Helps for Writers, Inspiration for writers, New Releases, The writing life, Writing the Truth in Love

Writing for Readers in Today’s Culture

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Many readers are also writers—whether published or not.

Are you a writer of sermons, blogs, letters, poetry, memoirs, essays, or books?

I invite you on a journey with me to discover, discern, and re-affirm a creative, organic, adventurous view of writing and publishing ministry today. Join me on this journey by reading my latest book, Write & Publish Organically: Dig Deep, Tend the Soil, Help Newness Emerge.

My vision of faith-based writing and publishing is like growing a garden that is not only productive but beautiful and good and true. It gets you in touch with “what is really real.” It gives life to all touched by the garden: workers, pollinators, neighbors, and consumers of the garden produce.

How does this vision fit within a post-modern, increasingly pluralistic and secular society, and a divided political landscape?

Churches are re-evaluating what ecclesia means, many Christians are deconstructing—and some are reconstructing—their beliefs. A growing number of the population identifies as SBNR (“spiritual but not religious”). They include the “Nones” (no religious affiliation) and the “Dones” (those who have left organized church). In this changing landscape how and what do we write and publish—especially in a sustainable way that will last and continue to grow and have influence?

In Write & Publish Organically, I consider five aspects of what I call organic publishing: Soak, Spoke, Evoke, Provoke, and Stoke. I show how we need to …

  1. SOAK (first ourselves and then our readers) in mentally, physically, socially, spiritually healthy
    nutrients, water, and life-sustaining soil.
  2. Listen to wise words and the Living Word SPOKEN through the ages and still speaking. Then use words ourselves with care and creativity.
  3. Write narratives to EVOKE the beautiful, good, and true, the transcendent within the imminent, to remind and re-enchant.
  4. PROVOKE with our writing, cultivating vision, action, and community for a future of healing, renewal, and wholeness.
  5. Continue to STOKE the fires of awareness, refinement, and relational engagement.

I choose the mindset of an under-gardener. My Father is the Gardener. Working with the Gardener, I purpose to dig, prepare the soil, and sow seeds with well-chosen, apt words. The resulting fruit may never be fully seen or measured. But I will seek to cultivate wheat, not chaff, and do it with love.

Join me, fellow writers and take the challenge of writing organically.

~Catherine

More about the book HERE.

 

 

 

Answering the Call of Christ, Authentic Faith, Creative Nonfiction, Experiencing Community, Following Jesus, God and Creation, God working in history, Offering HOPE

Together With God

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In this poetic essay I engage with the idea that we need to get involved—with others—in what God is doing in our world. Will we listen to what the past and present are saying, so we can move together WITH our loving God now … stepping into the possibilities that call us to a renewed future?

WITH

When the angel said to Mary, “For nothing is impossible with God”

and when Jesus said, speaking of the rich young man, “With God all things are possible”

did they mean that God would single-handedly make seemingly-impossible things happen?

Well, surely “with” means with. Possibilities are not actualities. But they can become so.

First, choices will be made . . . by God, by us. . . .

Choices matter in each

  • attraction or encounter.
  • touch or grasp.
  • reaction or response.
  • intersection or dead-end.
  • word spoken or thought silenced.

And, as in the case of Mary, life-giving choices and actions don’t happen alone but

WITH.

Whence comes this ability and necessity to choose, this invitation to respond and cooperate?

—From One who speaks potentiality, beauty, and creativity out of Love . . . connecting us as persons, relating us to all of nature, to every part of ourselves, and to God (through Christ who gives us life and the Spirit who is with us). We are image-bearers. We are all in some sense

WITH.

Living here in time and space, each of our moments is thick with the past—and pregnant with the future—calling us to be creators, curators, visionaries, encouragers, healers, leaders, servants.

Will we

receive the breath

heed the voice

cleave to the nearness

of God?

Will we give birth to actions of faith, hope, and love

WITH?

Look up—attend, listen to this present moment.

Look back—see the river of the past feeding into the now.

Look down—see that we are standing in an estuary of the potent, teeming present.

Look toward the horizon—see the future rolling and swelling. Which waves will break upon the shore?

Look around—all that surrounds us, that the river currents and ocean tides wash in, how it is mixing. At this time, in this place, what can we do to bring

  • clarity not murkiness?
  • free flow not stagnation?
  • sweetness not putridity?
  • abundance not scarcity?
  • hope that helps people know they are

WITH?

We are part of the becomingness of everlasting life!

Will we face the moment, listen to what it is saying about us, about the past that has influenced who we are, about what we are bringing into the future, and what the future may be bringing to us?

God—being revealed through Jesus, the Scriptures, and creation—is patient, persistent, longsuffering, even slow . . . convincing, helping, here

WITH.

Like compass needles, we seek, seek True North; and True North wants to, wills to, be found.

Yet, bent, we wobble and resist.

But God is not a faraway star. God is

  • the true atmosphere giving us breath.
  • the true magnetism holding us together.
  • the true dawn waking us again and again.

Does the needle think it is the true one and North should get in line?

God “strengthens the humble but opposes the proud.”—

This is to say, when we set ourselves in opposition, we cannot join hands

WITH.

No matter where we go, where we have been, where our feet stand now in time . . . we are not alone, never away from God’s influence, care, wooing. If “God with us” holds all our times past—keeps our “tears in a bottle”. . . . If God at every moment sees all the possible steps into the future. . . . If God imagines the myriad possible intersections of our path with the paths of others. . . . Then let us act, step out, take hold, clasp hands, join hearts

WITH.

Forces exist that would divide us, separate us, within, without.

God—Love—would bring us together.

In this estuary of the consequential, substantial present . . .

The young gambol in swirls of fresh water, thinking they’ll forever play among the land mammals, trees, and sun-drenched grasses.

We who have traveled longer sense saltiness in the water and feel the undertow pulling away from familiar moorings. We will soon find ourselves in the waters of what from here appears to be dark swelling mysteries and unfathomed depths … to a separation temporal, but a connection and communion everlasting.

Fresh water and salt water mingle here and now, but these waters continually recede, like breath and blood flowing in and out of lungs—rhythms of life attuned

WITH.

If we have a God who speaks, comforts, helps,

and in whom “all things hold together,”

then surely God is continually present to us and all creation?

And if God’s Spirit is manifest “wherever two or three are gathered,”

then surely God the Spirit is speaking and influencing here, there,

WITH.

In this moment, are we thriving?

How can we continue to stand, let alone flourish, if divided against ourselves—lacking harmony in our inner lives, our families, our churches, our nations, our world?

We say we believe some form of:

  • “God created the heavens and the earth.”
  • “God called creation ‘good’.”
  • “God so loved the world. . .”

Then God isn’t against us but

WITH!

Can we agree, in this in-between time of grace and faith, as we open our hearts and minds to the Alpha and Omega, to seek God’s reign and will “on earth as it is in heaven,” and work together

WITH?

This moment carries roots and leaves of past moments and seeds of all future moments. What we do—now—matters. Is this present mix of waters rich with life and health both ecological and societal? Jesus said we are “the salt of the earth” and “the light of the world.” We are caretakers of creation and each other when we partner

WITH.

Why do we blindly and stubbornly waste personal and corporate energies on greedy squabbles and turf wars?

Can we

  • accept slowness; unplug, listen, “fear not”?
  • trust together in creation’s innate ability to heal and renew, and accept our part in that?
  • acknowledge our own need for healing and renewal?
  • choose a mindset of benevolence for all?
  • have faith and hope in goodness and salvation?

Surely our God of creative, gracious, relentless love, will help us to join

WITH.

We need each other.

Will we lead the way by giving up worn-out stances, protectiveness, fear?

Let us be conservative—conservers of the truly good.

Let us be liberal—truly generous and tolerant.

We can each take responsibility to do something to make a positive difference, to be life-giving, to partner with God and each other in what Love seeks to do and calls us to participate in, as co-laborers. This labor is not burdensome, when we are yoked

WITH.

I know some people who choose to listen to, love freely, and work with God to sweeten the waters where they stand:

  • A prosperous, conservative Christian couple who cultivate acres of gardens to grow produce for their local food bank.
  • An evangelical pastor who has organized a ministry of prayer, friendship, and outreach to Muslim refugees in his city.
  • A retired professor and writer who follows God in vulnerability, revealing her trauma and healing to help others.
  • Contemplatives and poets who listen to and articulate a language of the heart to reach and touch fellow longing hearts.
  • Theologians reaching across institutional divides with hopeful understandings of God’s essence and presence.
  • A quiet man who invites neighbors into his home, where he and his wife pray and care for them, and share life together.
  • Wounded healers who listen, love, and pray with all who come; inviting, seeking, finding Jesus in broken places.
  • My friend who sits with people dying alone in hospital, so they will not die alone but know they are

WITH.

We stand here in a richness of the influential past and the potential future

as hope enlivens the waters. Will we:

  • vision together a more healthy and happy future?
  • seek healing for wounds we carry from the past?
  • affirm the good in this pregnant moment?
  • join hands together and partner

WITH God?

~Catherine Lawton

“With” (here slightly revised) was first published in the book Partnering with God. (SacraSage, 2021)

Unsplash Photos: 1) Joshua Gaunt 2) Nick Fewings

 

Joy of Reading, Nature Writings, Nurturing Wonder, Poetry

Go a Wandering on Paths of Discovery

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“I love to go a wandering upon the mountain track, and as I go I love to sing, my knapsack on my back…”* My sister and I learned this song in school as children. Living near the Sierras or Coastal Ranges of California, we would sing it together whenever we hiked up a trail.

Warm sunshine, wildflowers, scent of pines, and glimpses of wildlife delighted as we made our way up a winding path to our destination of mountain lake, trout stream, or lookout point.

I still like to trek trails and walk paths, and as I go I love to sing … or pray, or compose poems, fueled by the enchantments of the natural world around me and a sense of awe and companionship with God or with a friend.

… (Continue reading this post at my new, personal blogsite: https://prayerandpoetry.com/ )