Photo taken in Teddy Roosevelt National Park, North Dakota.

Simple…

Fresh…

Green…

Each day is a fresh start…

A fresh perspective…

A breath of fresh air…

A spring within us…

Now,

now,

now…

now is the time to notice.

Greening… As spring is upon us, may we pause and linger and notice the beauty, the depth, and the complexity of our world and our relationships.

In a recent photography class, our assignment was to photograph “Simple.” A portion of the class discussion included the complexity of simplicity. How might we simplify and lean in to the beauty of the season, explore the beauty and difficulties of growth, establish some roots to go deeper, decide to prune or let go of some things – even some good things – and especially the things that are draining of our energy and worth? As with most worthwhile endeavors, whether simple or complex, the key lies in the practice.

How might we water our soul for growth? What seedlings might we plant?

Photo taken in olympic national park, washington.

When I think of a verdant image, the lush flourishing vegetation, the walk in the vibrant green forest, the greenness, the richness, the ferns, the abundancy of a spring explosion, I am inspired to grow. I am inspired to lean into the struggle, to lean into the idea of celebrating our differences as opposed to tolerating them, to plant the seeds of kindness and compassion, to offer deep and loving concern and care for myself and others.

Of course, plants need sunlight to survive. What nourishment do we need to survive and radiate love?

Hildegard of Bingen, a Benedictine abbess who lived from 1098-1179, put it this way, "Good People, most royal greening verdancy, rooted in the sun, you shine with radiant light." She often refers to the "kiss of God on every living thing,” including you, and me, and the towering pine, and the scrumptious lilac, and the tiny bush, and the blade of grass.

How might we take the seeds of spring’s greening to be inspired to live fully alive?

As children, my sisters and I were often thrilled to find that our Easter basket contained a BIG box of crayons – the kind where each crayon looks as if it is seated in a giant auditorium, just waiting for you, the “maestro of creativity,” to select a color to bring your creative endeavors to life. In thinking of that box of crayons, I did some research and discovered the many shades of green over the years.

Since the introduction of Crayola crayons in 1903, you might have found any one of these green colors in the Crayola box: Asparagus, Blue Green, Caribbean Green, Electric Lime, Emerald, Eucalyptus, Fern, Forest Green, Granny Smith Apple, Green, Green-Yellow, Inchworm, Jungle Green, Light Chrome Green, Lime, Maximum Blue Green, Maximum Chrome Green, Maximum Green, Maximum Green Yellow, Middle Blue Green, Middle Green, Middle Green Yellow, Mixed Veggies, Mountain Meadow, Olive Green, Pine Green, Rainforest, Screamin’ Green, Sea Glass, Sea Green, Shamrock, Sheen Green, Spring Green, Tropical Rain Forest and Yellow-Green. What a beautiful kaleidoscope of green there is!

Just as the crayon box offers the tiny budding artist an array of options, so do we have options for expressing our unique image of love. With all of our complexities and diversities and beauties within each of us, we have an opportunity to radiate life and love in an authentic way. Simple love. Complex love. Deep love. Rich love. Verdant love.

Roger, my husband, has written a beautiful and challenging poem honoring one of the many variegated options we have.

So, let’s consider the images of nature, and the beauty of green to inspire us to grow and to plant seedlings – in the ground and in our hearts. May we be inspired to carefully and tenderly pay attention. Paying attention to the look in one another’s eye, to the pain in one another’s furrowed brow, to the touch of one another’s loving hand, to the tear developing in one another’s eyes, or to the crack in one another’s voice as we listen deeply, can offer us moments of verdancy within our souls that radiate light.

For the month of April, we will be sharing images of nature in all of her hues of green. Each day I will post on Instagram and Facebook an invitation to verdancy, a daily seedling of growth for our hearts and our souls to reflect upon. In addition, you can download the PDF below for the daily reflections if you are not on social media.

April PDF - Click Here!