God – Lauri Hawley

Harmony

I grew up in the olden days of hymnals and four-part-harmony congregational singing. Almost everyone knew how to read music, and if not, they just stuck with the melody. When someone got off-pitch, the dissonance was painful to hear.

Many years later, I’m dabbling in watercolors, learning about warm and cool colors, and which harmonious ones create lovely new colors when mixed together. I painted these lovely leaves from my warm color mixing palette, and I love how earthy they are!

While having both warm and cool colors in the same painting can create wonderful contrasts, mixing them can lead to muddy messes. Sometimes, though, a muddy color is just what a painting needs to create shadows! Shadows build depth in a painting, but they are not usually what draws the eye.

The psalmist writes, “Behold, how good and pleasant it is when brothers dwell in unity!” (Psalm 133:1). Followers of Jesus have the same heavenly Father, making us brothers and sisters, and there should be a strong family resemblance of love, righteousness, peace, and joy evident to a watching world. Our lives as a community should stand out because we’re so different. When there is harsh dissonance within the family of God, it hurts our testimony. Who would want to be part of that?

Harmony with others requires humility. While we can respectfully disagree with one another, we can’t always have our own way or think our perspective and conclusions are the only correct ones. Constructive conversations bring light to differing viewpoints and can add depth to our understanding, but they must not create disunity in the Body of Christ.

Paul had great advice for the church in Philippi:

So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy, complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others.

Philippians 2:1-4

That sounds a lot like harmony to me.

This post is written in response to Kate Motaung’s Five Minute Friday link-up. These prompts are fun to respond to, and only take five minutes to compose. Today’s prompt: HARMONY.

Bury

Snow is falling again and burying my flower garden, but I know that spring is coming. It will soon be time for planting and watering, waiting for sprouts to break through the soil. Most of them would be eaten by birds if not covered with a layer of dirt. If the seeds aren’t buried, how can I expect new flowers to grow?

Horizon

It’s a crisp winter day. The trees are bare, having lost their leaf coats months ago. Through their stripped branches, I can see what is invisible during the leafy seasons of spring, summer, and fall.

The horizon lies beyond, beautiful and distinct.

Mend

Today I received a text from an unknown number.

“Your kids keep climbing my tree, please ask them to stop.”

My first reaction was to laugh, because my kids are all in their 20s. If they’re climbing the neighbor’s tree, they’re grownups and responsible for themselves! I replied that I wished my kids were out climbing trees!

Rhododendron Insights: Adapting to Life’s Seasons

I was worried earlier this winter when all of my smaller-leafed rhododendrons had turned burgandy and curled up tightly. Had I killed them by pruning them too deeply after they flowered last year?

Rhododendron leaves curled up and brown against a backdrop of snow

I’ve written before about senescence, in which the rhodies’ older leaves turn yellow and fall off in the autumn. Even the evergreens lose their leaves and needles sometimes!

My Winter Forest Discovery

When I look out my kitchen window, I can see a little tree in the distance still holding onto its golden leaves deep into the winter cold.