Fine Seeds, Divine Seeds

From the Heart of John Wingfield V3H7

Queen Anne’s Lace is standing and dancing in the summer wind. Not to be confused with Gray’s Lovage or Little Pipsissewa, or Queen Anne herself. The Queen Anne’s Lace is of the Parsley Family and related to the wild carrot. Seeing many, many Queen Anne’s Lace along my walk today I kept thinking of it as St. Anne’s Lace. And that took me to a painting in the National Gallery, which frames the north of Trafalgar Square in London. It’s not a painting really, rather it’s a cartoon, a prototype or sketch prior to the finished painting by Leonardo da Vinci. It depicts Mother Mary and the baby Jesus with St. Anne, Mary’s Mother and another baby, perhaps the one who will be called John the Baptist.

The amazing thing about that da Vinci is the profound depth it reaches into you. At least it did into me. The cartoon is in brown tone with Mary seated on Anne’s knee, extending her arm with the baby. What strikes you, or it did me every time I beheld it, was the flow of oneness, there is no separation between Anne, Mary and the Christ Child. Only the other infant is a bit off to the right, as an observer of the incredible movement of oneness into the mystic.

Queen Anne was the last Queen of England, Scotland, Ireland and France, at the beginning of the eighteenth century. And of course, for locals, Queen Anne remains a prominent hill in the heart of Seattle with a commanding view of the surrounding mountains, the Sound and cities.

Huckleberries are ripe on the delicate bushes of the lowland forest. They flourish where the ancient cedar used to grow, like an echo of another age gone by. A very good tasting echo. And those little green apples that God made are bulging on the branches in the miraculous process of becoming delicious apples.

Just as in the apple, also in the wild flowers, there are seeds just waiting to be taken and spread out across the land to spread the fruit and flowers. So too in you and in all of us, there is a seed, a divine seed, which is represented by Mary and Anne, extending forth the expression of the Christ Child in our gifts of life, to life. The divine seed in us contains DNA of love, understanding, vision, balance, wholeness, justice and peace.

Let’s plant the seeds with joy.

From the Heart Message

 

Walking down the road today I was taken back by the song birds singing from the forest, from telephone wires, from tree tops, from all around. I was taken back to a story shared with me by my friends in Unity House, Great Britain.

Swifts migrate from the tropics each year, flying and darting about eating insects. Swifts, the most aerial of birds, fly nearly all the time, up to 200,000 km, they dart about collecting flies and other delicacies for them and their young.

 

Recently someone in Unity House discovered a swift had gotten tangled in some old wiring high up near a gable in the back of the Edwardian house. It was caught and could not get free. So they rang RSPCA, that usually takes care of these situations, but they were busy and could not get to it in time. So, being Unity House, where Silent Unity is happening, they prayed.

 

Then someone thought of calling Richard, the gardener who comes round when he can to care for the gardens and helps where he can. They rang him up and asked him to come quickly with his ladders. He climbed up to the gable with Steve holding the ladder and was able to cut away the old obsolete wires. While he was cutting away the wires, amazingly other swifts flew very close to the house as if giving support and encouragement to the bird. They were overjoyed to see the precious bird in Richard’s hands when he climbed down.

 

They were advised by RSPCA to place the little bird in a box in a dark place for it to settle down after the ordeal and get over the shock. After this they found the little guy was barely lifting its head, as if it had given up. The Silent Unity team stood in a circle and prayed. They placed the box out on the veranda on the first floor. After several minutes the bird did not move nor show interest in moving. Then, as Silent Unity Director, Kimerie Mapletoft mused to Jane Gough, Director of Daily Word, several swifts flew near and around him. He lifted his head, spread his wings and flew away.

 

Sometimes we feel like that bird, tangled up in old wires that we got into without really knowing how or why. And in the tangle we can’t sort it out and sometimes can’t find our way. But then someone comes along, or calls or offers something that breaks the spell. “It was a powerful moment,” Kimerie wrote of the lesson, “reminding us that we cannot fly alone – we all need each other to fly and soar and be the living and free expressions of God we truly are. So next time you have a problem, don’t try to sort it out all alone. Call on your friends, your family, Silent Unity, and above all call on the divine presence of God and know that together we can fly.”

 

Today, July 14, is Bastille Day, marking the end of feudalism in France. Let it end everywhere In relationships. In religions. In homes. In hearts. May all be free.