Simplicity & the Labor of Love

Multiple meanings of labor, simple moments, Scout update, and July's benches

This week has felt like a week centered on simplicity.  There are two photos that really have spoken to me from this week and both are minimalist and simple.  One of a not-yet-open flower and the other of a heron on the lake.  Before I get to the photos, I want to commend a podcast episode to you.  I am not finished with it yet, but the half of it that I’ve listened to is amazing even before I get to the rest.  It is Parker Palmer and Carrie Newcomer’s podcast called, The Growing Edge.  This month’s episode is a replay of a conversation they did in 2020 with activist and author, Valarie Kaur.  There are two quotes from the first half that were...wow.

One was a quote that Ms Kaur shared during an event on New Year’s Eve / Watch Night leading into 2017.  She said:

“The future is dark. But what if this darkness is not the darkness of the tomb but the darkness of the womb?”

This quote framed much of what I heard in the conversation she had with Parker and Carrie about the labor (both the work and the delivery) of love.  And then there was this:

Joy is the gift of love.  Grief is the price of love.  Anger protects that which is loved.  When we think we have reached our limit, then wonder returns to us in love.  When we think about love in this way, then we begin to honor and engage and harness the entire spectrum of human emotions in that labor of love.

I literally listened to that quote five times over in the car so I could memorize it to remember to save it when I was no longer driving.

Goodness yes...

Here’s the link once again

So with that as the background, here are the two photos that have spoken to me this week

What drew me to this as Scout and I were walking was that this was the one bloom that wasn’t yet in full in this small garden area.  All the rest were wide open and vibrantly colored.  Yet this one...not quite yet.  A message about the labor of love of what is not yet arrived?

And then this one...

This might look like a B&W image, but it isn’t - it is full color.  It was a grey and cloudy morning with the super still water of the lake reflecting the flat sky.  This heron watching for its breakfast while being mirrored on the water’s surface along with the pieces of wood that were poking up from the lake.  This is one of those moments that the photograph speaks more to me than the moment itself.  I was a long ways off from this and the zoom on my camera allowed me to get closer than I could have otherwise.

And then just a few more images...First, my still-recovering Scout (stitches are looking great and likely come out on Monday!) and I with this morning’s sunrise…

And then July’s images of the benches...

And then the other…

Grace, Peace, Love, and Joy,
Ed

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