Photo Albums

Some of the most cherished memories are held in the photo albums we have. I really only have them from about five generations back, but they hold witness to the constant change and flux of passing time.
One of my favorite photographs comes from an album given to me by my Aunt. It held a picture of my maternal grandfather as a high school baseball player. He poses in his uniform in front of the farm house he lived in. The photo contains so much unsaid information about a time in the 1920's, that I find new meaning every time I look at it. It means much to me as a historical and loved artifact. That I removed it from the album and framed it for my home office is a testament to those sentiments.
The uniform is strikingly similar to uniforms of today, but when is the last time a photo was taken of a lanky teen that showed no attitude? When is the last time you saw lightning rods on a house? Wood siding on a house? Imagine how his fielders glove must have felt to him...a big investment for the time I would bet. And how do you suppose the team traveled to play without buses to haul them to fields around the county?
I never saw this picture before my grandfather passed away. I have so many questions about it, and other photos that I have, that only he could answer. It leaves me only supposition.
I remember his grandfather hands and wish to understand the ones that he had in the picture, one slipped into the oiled leather fielders glove and the other resting on his thigh.

Saint Patrick's Breastplate

I arise today
Through the strength of heaven:
Light of sun,
Radiance of moon,
Splendor of fire,
Speed of lightning,
Swiftness of wind,
Depth of sea,
Stability of earth,
Firmness of rock.

--Excerpt from " Saint Patrick's Breastplate

We should all be able to sum up the reasons we live as eloquently as the previous words attributed to Saint Patrick. The writer looked around at his surroundings and could capture the universe that surrounded him and recognize his place as a part of it. After all, could a universe--the wind, earth, rock, sea--even exist without our souls seeing and feeling it? Kind of a which came first, the chicken or the egg question. The surrounding universe or the breath of God? The sacredness of the observations that sum up reasons to keep pursuing living are all there. With each observed element of the verses there could also contain a diverse range of represented human experiences.

Wind, for example, can come in many forms and represent many symbolic ways of living. Real wind can be a gentle breeze that cools or a hurricane gale that seeks destruction of whatever lies in its path. It can sculpt the snow into drifts that hold a beauty that is hard to describe and turn cold air into freezing death for the homeless. It can move a sailboat to far destinations or dash it on a reef. Fragrance from blossoms can be delivered to the sense of smell of violent gusts can fill our eyes with dust.

Symbolically, we humans can breeze through life or leave a path of devastation and hurt, depending on which form of wind we choose to ride. Will we use our wind to create lasting symbols in the hearts and lives of the community of man? Or will we be remembered like the hurricanes?

Water

More than any other substance, water, seems to encompass and expose the secrets and the revelations of the cosmos. It flows through our bodies and surrounds us in the air. When it rains, it cleanses all that it touches, grabbing and carrying away dust, pollen and grime. It touches, bonds and dashes it down to the earth, which it waters. It can exist in the planes of liquid, vapor and solid.

Water cools us and warms us. We drink it and soak in it and let it wash over us. Without it our cells would dry up and cease to function and we would die.

It sparkles with the sunlight on its liquid horizon and its transparent beauty draws our gaze below its surfaces. What mysteries lie below? Moonlight can turn it into a blanket of energy that moves the heart to love and loving thoughts.

Water is a dangerous Naiad; its essence fascinates us and lures us by its beauty. We take to seas and it may turn angry and struggle to kill us. Its fluid mechanics can be a physical force and drag us below its surface. Too much water in the lungs and we drown. We must be careful to not anger or challenge Poseidon.

“…Jesus went out to them, walking on the lake. When the disciples saw him walking on the lake, they were terrified.” What terrified them? My thought is it was the true mysterious power of water was being revealed to them. These fishermen, who knew the dangers and blessings of the seas, witnessed the miracle of God’s transformation of water from fluid to solid. Maybe that was the transformation that man makes to finally obtain and believe…to have faith.

I walk on the water these days with my kayak. I haven’t strong enough faith to step on the surface with my feet.