Photos of purple flowers routinely post on Mondays. But, this is not a photo of purple flowers. It is a photo of Tricia and Eric watching me take photos of purple flowers. By the ball fields of Central Park, Tricia spotted some purple flowers. As I wandered over to take some photos, she and Eric watched. At her suggestion, I took this one. And I post it today, Sunday.
See you along the Trail.
Inside people enjoy art;
outside a bee enjoys the flowers.
Richmond, Virginia
16 August 2012
Filed under Photo
Comings and goings
in a variety of purple shades
at the same time
Cleveland Heights, Ohio
7 July 2012
Filed under Cleveland Heights, Photo
Purple flowers
stand watch above
the park honoring
Dr. Ralph J. Bunche
of the United Nations
Manhattan, New York
16 July 2012
Filed under New York, Photo, United Nations
A ball of purple
waits in the Fourth Avenue Presbyterian Church garden
for the game to begin.
Brooklyn, New York
15 June 2012
My friend Amanda Craft and I worked together for a several years with the Presbyterian Peacemaking Program. She left first, going to Guatemala as a mission co-worker with the IENPG (the National Evangelical Presbyterian Church of Guatemala) in women’s leadership development.
Amanda blogs about her ministry. Her reflection on the recent Lenten season focused on, among other things, the color purple. Acknowledging purple as the liturgical color for Lent, Amanda reflects about purple flowers – purple jacaranda blossoms actually:
The dried flower arrangements that adorn doorways are filled with purple flowers. Howev
er, what I have not noticed before are the purple jacaranda blossoms. Jacaranda trees are tall and large, and when the flowers are in bloom they pack the limbs as if they are leaves. The flowers are small and delicate giving off a soft, sweet smell. Guatemalans respect these seemingly insignificant blossoms for their medicinal properties. Boiling the flowers in a tea is a natural alternative to calming microbial infections in the digestive system (a common problem in Guatemala).
The irony is not lost on me. Here is a purple flower that has healing properties enjoying full bloom during a liturgical season focused on healing. God has such an interesting was of speaking, no? Jesus’ death is significant since it was a divine act meant to heal the many wrongs, shortcomings, and sins of the world. I am reminded of this through a tiny tree blossom. The power to heal does not have to come from something grandiose, but through delicate, small acts that have the capacity to transform.
With Amanda, I challenge myself to notice more small, healing, transforming acts.
The photograph was taken on 17th June 2004 by Stephen Lea in San Luis Obispo. It is found on the Wikimedia Commons under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License.
See you along the Trail.
Filed under Friends, Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)
Delicate purple needles
weave beauty.
Brooklyn, New York
15 June 2012
Trees grow in Brooklyn.
So do purple flowers –
at least in the garden outside
Fourth Avenue Presbyterian Church.
Brooklyn, New York
15 June 2012
On our final day in Dublin,
for this trip,
we visited St.Stephen’s Green
where we saw ducks,
busts of Joyce and Markievicz
a Boer War arch,
a statue of Tone,
reminders of the Famine,
and purple flowers.
St. Stephen’s Green
Dublin, Ireland
4 May 2012
Awed by nature’s force and power
that threw up and cooled
columns of wonder,
I found time to be equally awed
by a more delicate, transient beauty.
The Giant’s Causeway
County Antrim
Northern Ireland
2 May 2012
Along the Graybeard Trail 