The “Living of Summer”
July 10, 2020
Embers from the Fire
A weekly blog by Deacon Dan Wagnitz for the Quad Parish Community
The “Living of Summer” – 7/10/2020
It is interesting how fast the wildflowers come and go. They are like waves of color that wash up on the shore and then disappear into the sand and fade from view. Sometimes it is just days. Sometimes, like with the wild roses that are done now, it takes a couple of weeks. That’s one of the reasons why I am partial to chicory. The bright blue flowers open up to greet each sunny morning, and they will do so pretty much into September. This morning the few that escaped the recent town ditch mower started blooming.
Chicory is resilient. By the end of the week they will regrow from the mower’s temporary clipping and they will line both sides of the town roads. They bloom “Mary blue”, and so when I look down the road, I like to think of Mary reaching out in embrace. It’s a great contemplative image as I pray my rosary.
Now that the chicory is here, soon to be joined by Queen Anne’s Lace, we are in full summer. People I think tend to be pessimists. We like to complain. We tend to look at the gloomy side of life. Our language of the seasons captures this aspect of our nature. In January and February, we talk about being in the “dead of winter”. Why don’t we talk about being in the “living of summer” in July and August? Life is literally bursting out all around us these days.
Christians are supposed to be people of joy. Joy is resilient. Happiness washes up on the shores of our life but then it can disappear into the sands of time and fade away. Joy is more like a river. Rivers sing as they go along their way – rushing over the rocks of our resistance. The best of rivers are cool and clear. We are blessed in Wisconsin to have so many of them. Our state’s name comes from the first peoples who called it “the gathering of the waters”. The music of the river nurtures hope. Hope and Joy are lovers. This is why Jesus described himself as “the living water come down from Heaven”.
If you live in town take a drive down a country road in the coming weeks. Take your drive first thing in the morning. Enjoy the “Mary blue” that lines the road. Pray. Feel hopeful. Then have breakfast. Whatever you have will taste delicious. We are in “the living of summer”.
His Peace
Deacon Dan
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