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| Yellow Zinnia with Bumblebee |
We hear a great deal about Alzheimers these days: that at some point our brains start to break down and we lose the gift of remembering. Human beings seem to be made for remembering. A nursing home I visited recently has an activity in the afternoon where the folks gather and are invited and led into remembering.
God remembers. Pope John Paul II said that we are one of God's thoughts; one of God's heartbeats. An omniscient God isn't going to forget even one lovely thought us. Some Christians like to think of God as being good at remembering our sins - especially the sexual sins. And that on judgment day God will remember them all out loud and we'll either go to heaven or hell based on those sins. So much for the drained Blood of Christ, heh?
Anyway, zinnias are these wonderful summer annual flowers that delight us. The zinnias we know today, the giant ones with the pop out colors, are hybrids of native zinnias. As hybridizers we're co-creators with God. I investigated the symbolic meaning of zinnias and found that the yellow zinnia means remembering. Remembering is simply the action of our minds which brings thoughts forward. Remembering and resentment or bitterness go hand in hand, but remembering and joyful gratitude do all the more.
In the presence of the yellow zinna - remembering:
my walking feet
the persons who delivered me
the watery-womb which carried me
every kindness ever done to me
every gift given
the movement of baptism waters
my First Communion Day
for love in my life
the times I avoided death and
the healing of old wounds
the survival of cruelty and abuse
the animals I have known
the surrounding colors
the air I breathe
the beating of my heart
that I can create and
health has been restored
that there is friendship in my life
that I'm able to read these lines and
delight in music
for the gift of taste
for growth in goodness
for laughter
for the relieving gift of tears
for poems and hymns
the heron on the stream
the fruit ripening
the air-cleaning leaves
the blue moon
the summer season
a sudden storm
a sibling's love
July's lilies
the greeting, good morning
sorrows and trials that invite humility.
for angels and saints
bread and wine
every good meal
for the students I've taught
for the children of friends
for angels and saints
bread and wine
every good meal
for the students I've taught
for the children of friends
You take it from here...
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