Along the High Trestle Trail, late-summer berries are setting on.
Elderberries hang purple from red branches, dressed like Red Hat ladies out on the town. Honeysuckle opts for Christmas colors, setting red balls among still-green leaves. And the clustered white berries of the local dogwood carry dark center spots that make them look like manic eyeballs.
Seeing the berries cheers me up.
Last month I coached soap carving. Our church, Ankeny Presbyterian Church in Ankeny, Iowa, was throwing an outdoor block party for our neighborhood — hot dogs, a bounce castle, donuts made to order, even a fire truck. One of our neighbors offered to play guitar and sing, so we had live music, too.
The disciples are in a daze because it’s not every day a friend whom you saw violently crucified, dead, and buried a few days ago is standing before you, chewing broiled fish and chatting like it’s just another lunch.
What have I learned? An approaching birthday, one that ends in zero, has me thinking, not so much about academic knowledge, but more about the life experience sort of learning. The kind of observation-based wisdom I find in the book of Proverbs. The kind of practical stuff I might pass on to a grandchild or share with a friend. So I made a list. And here’s a sampling:
For the third straight year, the Rev. Donna Frischknecht Jackson, editor of Presbyterians Today, has been awarded a Best in Class award, announced online Friday during the DeRose-Hinkhouse Memorial Awards by the Religion Communicators Council.
A biting March wind blows, but that doesn’t stop a member of Northbrook Presbyterian Church in Beverly Hills, Michigan, from taking off her gloves and quickly tying her prayer ribbon to a tree on the church property. Her prayer is for peace, for wholeness, for healing of not just the local community, but for the world. She ties the ribbon securely to the limb and steps back, the patches of lingering snow crunching beneath her feet, and smiles. Hers is not the only ribbon fluttering in the wind, but one of many placed by church members who are also spending this Lenten season journeying toward shalom.
Happy New Year, everybody! Or, as we sing along with José Feliciano in “Feliz Navidad,” his 50-year holiday hit: “Próspero año y Felicidad” (A prosperous and happy new year).
Look for signs of hope. The teachers of resilience offer this wisdom to the storm-tossed, the overwhelmed, the anxious. You may be way ahead of me here, but it’s advice I’m trying to take.