We are all, of course, alive. But we forget. We forget about the breath that gently animates our being. The eye that sees. The body, a living work of love, that thinks and feels, knows and wonders, walks and talks and moves and enters into a great unfolding of the blooming, growing love of God.
It is easy to be carried along on the strong current of small urgencies. The tending to incessant needs, the laying aside of deep desires, the faithful doing and undoing of a million small tasks. The repetition of a hidden life. The moving forward, into the gradual, aching understanding that life is rife with sorrow. That the beating heart can break.
But I am here to tell you that while we were walking, there were pink petals from a sudden sasanqua, frosting the the ground like a birthday cake. My daughter knew how to celebrate this. Without hesitation, she climbed the little hill, and bent beneath the tree. She gathered them, taking their beauty into herself. And with a cry of joy, she flung them, confetti to the sky, and let them fall.
Dear friends,
Today, I pray that you and I may enter into this kind of childlike wonder, that we will see and attend it. That we will respond to the kindness of God with the unabashed joy. That we will celebrate the quiet, unassuming goodness and beauty that surround us today.
Sending love,
Mackenzie
From the family archive:
“You were planted in my garden
Marigolden, brilliant light
Shines within you, all around you
From your eyes of bluest bright…”
(I wrote this for Azalea when she was a baby. And I am pretty happy that I invented the word marigolden for this song. It just seemed right to describe a red-haired daughter.)
From the Podcast:
My Book:
Now available wherever you buy books online.
My Journals:
Journaling is the intersection of my creative and spiritual life, and I would be lost without the ability to put my thoughts down on paper. I also really love making journals. I currently have two available for purchase. These 8x10 softcover books have 108 cream pages. Umbrellas has a dot grid on the left side and is unlined on the right side, and the Ocean Blue journal is fully blank, and both books are perfect for sketching and writing. (If you would like a signed copy of my books or journals, please order through our family shop. We package these up and ship them out ourselves.) Otherwise, you can find these journals on amazon by clicking the images below.
If you are still reading this, thank you! It means so much to me. If you enjoyed it, would you do me a favor and hit the heart button? That tells Substack it is worth sharing with others and will bring more readers to my writing. Thank you for being here with me.