Rooted

Every time I get on here to write a new post, I'm astonished at the date of my last post. Has it really been that long!?  Finishing grad school, starting a new job and moving has made for a very busy spring and summer, sometimes leaving me with less time for reflection. Along with these transitions, my writing energies in the last few months have been directed toward things like worship resources and published articles, leading me to wonder if continuing a blog is really worth it. But, occasionally something comes up that would be more fitting for a blog post. And, as I start to feel more settled into life again, I'm hoping to use more time for writing and reflection. So, we'll see how it goes.... :) 

This spring, as I transitioned from the role of student into the roles of my vocation, I found myself drawn toward images of trees. I also wanted to work with an image of circle, a practice of giving and receiving and presence that has shaped me in profound ways in the last few years. This image of a tree at the center of Circle, receiving the gifts of Life and Spirit, and offering its own gifts back into the Circle, has become a guiding metaphor and icon.

Sometimes when I begin creating I will also encounter words that accompany the image. This time I came across a passage from St. Catherine of Sienna-

"Imagine a circle traced on the ground, an in its center a tree sprouting with a shoot grafted into its side. The tree finds its nourishment in the soil within the expanse of the circle, but uprooted from the soil it would die fruitless. So think of the soul as a tree made for love and living only by love.... The circle in which this tree's root, the soul's love, must grow is true knowledge of herself, knowledge that is joined to me, who like the circle have neither beginning nor end. You can go round and round within this circle, finding neither end nor beginning, yet never leaving the circle....  

So the tree of charity is nurtured in humility and branches out in true discernment.... To me this tree yields the fragrance of glory and praise to my name, and so it does what I created it for and comes at last to its goal, to me, everlasting Life." 

What is nourishing you these days? How are you connecting to the source of Life? What gifts are you called to release as offerings into your world?

May you be nourished by the love of God,

even into the deepest roots of your soul.

May you freely release the gifts of your soul

into this endless Circle of Life and Love.

May you become what you are truly created for-

for love and living only by love.