Heather Holleman's Blog, page 15

The Plum Was Delicious (And Now the Seed)

I ate the plum! It was delicious! And I saved the seed and placed it in the refrigerator for its six month chilling requirement. In early March, I’ll propagate. I’ll start another glorious plumcot tree to add to my orchard. In four years, you’ll hear about this tree’s plum. And over and over again.

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Praying Psalm 90

I loved reading Psalm 90 this morning and praying this for my friends, family, coworkers, and students. It’s such a beautiful blessing if you think about verses 14-17:

Satisfy us in the morning with your unfailing love,
    that we may sing for joy and be glad all our days.
Make us glad for as many days as you have afflicted us,
    for as many years as we have seen trouble.
May your deeds be shown to your servants,
    your splendor to their children.

May the favor of the Lord our God rest on us;
    establish the work of our hands for us—
    yes, establish the work of our hands.

Let’s pray this together: May God satisfy us, grant us joy and gladness, show us His splendor, bless us with His favor, and show us the work He has set apart for us to do. Amen!

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Live Deep

This morning I read a quote by novelist Henry James that made me smile. He offers this advice to writers: “Try to be one of the people on whom nothing is lost!” I found the original quote from his book, The Art of Fiction, written in 1884. James writes this:

The power to guess the unseen from the seen, to trace the implication of things, to judge the whole piece by the pattern, the condition of feeling life, in general, so completely that you are well on your way to knowing any particular corner of it — this cluster of gifts may almost be said to constitute experience, and they occur in country and in town, and in the most differing stages of education. If experience consists of impressions, it may be said that impressions are experience, just as (have we not seen it?) they are the very air we breathe. Therefore, if I should certainly say to a novice, “Write from experience, and experience only,” I should feel that this was a rather tantalizing monition if I were not careful immediately to add, “Try to be one of the people on whom nothing is lost!” 

I love this encouragement to notice everything, to feel everything, and for us, to see a divine pattern to all of life—to guess the unseen. I want to step into the day and experience hundreds of sacred invitations to worship. I want to see the beauty behind all things and the joy hiding in ordinary moments. I want us to be people on whom nothing is lost. It’s another way of living out Thoreau’s mission to live deliberately. I loved these words of his:

I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived. I did not wish to live what was not life, living is so dear; nor did I wish to practise resignation, unless it was quite necessary. I wanted to live deep and suck out all the marrow of life. . .

Live deep!

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Come On In!

Today I filled the candy jar in my office with Hi Chew candies (students love these) and KIND bars. I filled another basket with Emergen-C, water flavors, and scratch art for relaxation in the office. In the past, I’ve offered breakfast bars and bottled water—anything to let a student know they can come in, stay a while, chat, or even do their homework.

I’ve told you about my professor friend who invites every student who stops by her office to stay for a cup of tea. She insists the tea is a symbol. It says to a student, “I have lots of time for you. Enough time to boil water, steep a tea bag, and drink a cup with you.” I’ve also recently heard of a professor who invites students to a “walking office hours” where everyone takes a walk around campus and talks. The tea and the walk both symbolize a sort of slow time.

This is the first year of my life when I won’t provide the Warm Welcome and After School Snack Platter for my daughters since both are off to college, but I can extend the philosophy of the Warm Welcome to work relationships, to Ashley, and to the neighbors. I want to present a disposition and environment that says, “Come on it! Stay awhile!”

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The Lovely and the Blessed

More and more, I love Psalm 84. It offers a new way to see and a fresh way to live.

Instead of fretting over our homes, we remember the loveliness of dwelling in God and praising Him. (How lovely are Your dwelling places, O Lord of Hosts!)

Instead of relying on our own strength and plans, we place our strength in God and live as pilgrims on a journey home. (How blessed in the man whose strength is in You!)

Even being near to God’s house is better than dwelling anywhere else. (I would rather stand at the threshold of the house of my God than dwell in the tents of the wicked.)

God gives His goodness and blessing to those who trust in Him. (No good thing does He withhold from those who walk uprightly. O Lord of hosts, how blessed is the man who trusts in you!)

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Lowliness of Spirit

I’m reading Fenelon’s book called Let Go. In the very first recorded letter, he writes about having lowliness of spirit. He writes that lowliness is “essential” and “produces a teachable spirit that makes everything easy.” When something happens to us that destroys our pride, reveals our weakness or insufficiency, and brings us to a low place, it’s a time to rest in the lowliness of spirit that makes us humble, dependent, and ready to receive God’s power and peace in fresh ways.

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Putting Up the Corn

Today Ashley and I enjoyed the culturally enriching experience of “putting up the corn” with a family from our church. This is the same couple who cooks us venison and invites us to eat the pickles and applesauce stored in gorgeous jars that line their basement— enough to feed the family for the entire year.

(I loved standing there in front of shelf after shelf lined with mason jars of stored green beans, cherries, peaches, tomato sauces, meats, pickles, and applesauce. It’s a cozy, safe feeling.)

But on this day, it’s all about the corn.

I observe three enormous sacks of freshly picked corn from the field. I took my place in history beside the 90 year-old great grandmother who showed me what to do. Her eyesight was better than mine. She told me stories of growing up in the country. I learned about butchering day. I listened to her recite a hymn. We sat together for 3 hours, shucking and silking corn. Her granddaughter came drove from Harrisburg with her children just for this day and she worked to rinse the corn. Nobody misses this day.

I shucked. I silked. I cooled my hands in hose water from the heat of boiled corn. The family taught us to boil the ear of corn before we shuck it. Then, we used a fun device that cuts all the kernels off the corn. I was terrible at it. Inside, we filled freezer bags with the fresh corn that would be vacuum-sealed for the winter. Ashley and I would take 20 bags.

After we worked, we enjoyed burgers and, of course, fresh corn.

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On High

This morning I note the expression “on high” repeated in the psalms. In Psalm 69:29, for example, David writes, “But I am afflicted and in pain; let your salvation, O God, set me on high!” I look up the translation of “on high,” and I just love the expression. David is asking God to set him in a secure, inaccessible, prosperous, joyful, and peaceful place. To be placed “on high” is an image of rising above chaos, harm, or suffering into a place of profound peace. We become enlarged in our souls with wisdom and power when God sets us “on high.” We see ourselves as inaccessible to any enemy attack.

God, set us on high!

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Ripening

I venture to the garden to see that my tomatoes finally ripened. I’m always stunned at Pennsylvania’s late growing season. I always feel like red tomatoes arrive too late here when, really, they’re right on time.

(Varying ripening timelines across the US provide a good example of not comparing your growth or life’s plan to anyone else’s in any other place. God might have you in a place where you ripen into your purpose or calling at a different rate, and it’s perfect for you and the location in which you find yourself.)

Meanwhile, these giant tomatoes will make perfect tomato sandwiches or filling for my tacos. I’m so excited!

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Back to the Inch

It’s a cool morning here, so I sneak in some weeding between work commitments. I always view the weeding work in front of me and experience that overwhelming feeling that there’s just too much to do here. You might feel that with your own work today. It’s too much!

But then I remember to work the inch. Do the inch! Start the work in the tiniest division of it you can. I pull this weed and that weed in a small section. Then I move to the next. Soon, the whole area looks beautiful. I find an hour has passed in the cool morning shade and breeze.

I learned about starting with just an inch years ago. It helps me with cleaning, writing, organizing, and garden work. Maybe you needed a little boost of encouragement with your work for the day. Start in the smallest increment. Pull that weed. Clean that surface. Write that sentence. Then, do the next one. Soon, you’ll have finished the whole task.

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