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A Joyful Noise

be still

The welcome respite of rain

March 12, 2020 by Melodye Shore

Rain’s in the forecast every day this week, spilling over into the next! No big deal in most parts of the country, but it’s a blessing for SoCal residents because it tamps down fears of another drought. Also: Traffic’s lighter, because we sun-lovers don’t venture out as much when it’s wet.

And so it is that I’m curled up in my reading chair, memorized by the percussive sounds of raindrops on our red tile roof. It falls in sheets from the wooly-gray sky, shimmies down my picture window and splashes into my birdbath. My garden is getting a long, deep soaking, and I am filled with a sense of well-being.

It’s as if Mother Nature is sprinkling over all of Creation what we needed most–a quarantine of sorts for world-weary humans, and liquid nourishment for the great outdoors.

Image: “Rain Room” exhibit at LACMA; my silhouette.

Posted in: be still, birdbath, california, weather, writing Tagged: california, coronovirus, drought, LACMA, Rain Room, weather

Lessons from a Swallowtail

July 3, 2019 by Melodye Shore
Swallowtail

This Swallowtail visited my garden, earlier this week. It perched itself on a nearby Pentas Nova, oblivious to the camera slung around my neck and the pruning shears I carried.

It lingered for a long while, basking in the sunlight and sipping nectar.

I snapped a quick photo and then observed quietly from a distance.

I was mesmerized by the slow, steady rhythm of its beating wings and the seemingly infinite patience it demonstrated as it unfurled its proboscis and drew it up again, probing for food in one flower and then another. A metronome of the natural world, its tempo was unaffected by the take-offs and landings at the bird bath adjacent, fluttering palm fronds, and the swirl of activity at the goldfinch feeder.

And in those singular moments, I was a student again, learning life lessons in nature’s classroom.

Posted in: backyard, be still, Butterflies, flowers, garden, gardening, meditation, Nature, nectar, Swallowtail Butterfly, writing Tagged: flower, meditation, Pentas Nova, Swallowtail

For such a time as this

June 27, 2018 by Melodye Shore

Illustration Via Queen of Your Own Life. Used with permission.

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about what it means to remain silent, in such a time as this.

Children should be seen and not heard.

Stay sweet.

Silence is golden.

If you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say anything at all.

We heard those messages loud and clear, many of us, for the whole of our childhoods. They found their echo in our adult relationships, and shaped our public interactions. No surprise, then, that some of us are biting our tongues until they bleed these days, and struggling mightily to hold ourselves in check.

I’m all about honesty, and a gracious kindness. I know firsthand the power of a “good word,” softly spoken. I’ll always believe “a soft answer turns away wrath,” and that actions speak louder than words. But good God a’mighty, enough with all this shushing! When the world has taken such a dramatic turn toward the dark…it’s a pearl of great price, this outwardly imposed silence.

A layer of fog rolled in from the ocean a few days ago, blanketing the backyard bistro table where I was contemplating this very thing. I thought about Queen Esther, who rose to power and lifted her people out of danger. Not by virtue of her position, but by speaking her truth. And in that clarifying moment, I recalled a familiar scripture:

“Peace, be still.”

Mind you, I’ve heard (and recited) that Bible verse many times before. It speaks to my soul, affirming the things I know to be true. It’s a call to a higher purpose, seems to me, for such a time as this:

Tune out the noisy distractions. 

Quiet your inner chatter.

Be the peace you want to see in the world.

Be still, and know.

Even so, I heard something new that day–or maybe I understood that Scripture on an even deeper level. It’s a calming voice amidst the churning, yes, but it can also be interpreted as a gentle rebuke of those who would oppress us:

Peace, be still!

We are blessed and a blessing, all of us. Our light is meant to be shared.  We are truth-seekers and storytellers, and we will not be muzzled.

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Posted in: be still, For such a time as this, Queen of your own life, Queenism, Rise, writing Tagged: be still and know, Bible verse, For such a time as this, meditation, peace be still, Queen of your own life, Queenism, RIse

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