Yesterday I transplanted hosta plants. Bill's mom, Diane gave me seven of them five years ago. They have outgrown their spot, so I split and divided as gardeners do, and came up with fifteen more to put in the new shady landscape spot. The same thing happened with the stella d'oro daylilies I got from Barb a couple years ago, suddenly seven plants becomes twenty-seven and you have a whole garden of them. Gardening is like that. A ripple effect.
A stranger came to my door last Fall. A peculiar looking woman. She politely told me that I needed to put some wood ashes on my peonies or they would suffer from the mildew that was on them. Okay. Thanks. Then she asked if she could have some pine cones from the yard. Sure. I figured out she lives down the street. The kids call it the old house. The very old house, that has not been maintained for many, many years--with the broken down car in the driveway because it looks like the garage is too far gone. She has a garden. It's years and years outgrown, but I have always admired the old-fashioned and rare plants that come up between the weeds. Noreen. So Noreen walks up yesterday as I am digging holes and thanks me for the pine cones. She made them all into angels and wreaths and gave them away at some shelter. She asks if I want a peony. She has it half dug. Sure, I say, and then it dawns on me, no one digs something half way unless they aren't able to finish it. I offer to help her dig it out Tuesday morning and we have a garden date. Talk to the dogs as you come up, she says, and they won't bother you. She lives alone. She takes free stuff and makes it into something special for someone else. She shares her antique peonies. Another ripple effect.
Saturday we celebrated the retirement of Pastor Jim, founder and senior pastor of Easter for the past 38 years. Kris Henry and the church commissioned a new choral work for the occasion, titled Be Still. The text is Sarah Clark's poetic contemporary paraphrase of Psalm 46. The music composed by Daniel Kallman. Kallman uses the technique of text painting, where the harmony and texture of the music match the words at each moment. "Rocky shores" is a jagged counterpoint, "be still and know" is a calm tonal melody, and "the spirit of God" part is full of majestic piano chords. We worked hard and I think we gave it a good first run. The choir and I got most of the notes, and all of the meaning, I hope. Churches and university choirs can use the piece for years and years to come. Another ripple effect.
Back to Pastor Jim, what can I say that hasn't been said? If you had to pick a second dad, he would be right up there on the list. One man starts a church and people all over the world get blessed. The ultimate ripple effect.
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