Of Unknown Origin: The Mysteries of the Universe

Of Unknown Origin - Image c 2012 Lynda Lehmann

Nature cloaks herself in Mystery, not revealing "why." Perhaps She knows that telling, would destroy the quest. She gives us only inklings, some fragile, small glimpses, in order to preserve her Truths. And her message to us, another paradox, is: Protect to Partake.

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The Wail of the Mourning Dove

I'm ready to enjoy my morning coffee. Somewhere nearby, a Mourning Dove cries. A plaintive call, to protest the onset of another cloudy morning?

I lean back to rest my head against the wall. The cry continues. I am held rapt by the sound. It is neither here nor there, but beyond time and place. The sound is plaintive and nostalgic. Is it because similar calls are heard around the world, that they defy our sense of place and particularity?

I am not alone. The songbird is present, but everywhere. The call is timeless. Across continents, people hear the same songs. Evocations of the infinite...

This cry does not belong to our time alone. It belongs to All Time, to the Beginning of Time, to Creation.

I drift on its notes, and let my thoughts float beyond the tight walls of the space where I sit. Outside, the trees loom and portend the larger forests that extend in all directions. But my mind has now encircled and embraced the world, carried on the plaintive song of the Mourning Dove.

Mourning Dove image source: Wikipedia

All text copyright Lynda Lehmann. All rights reserved.

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The Yin and Yang of Water: Light and Shadow, Spray and Stone

Fluctuating Trunks

Spray and Stone

Amber

Shimmering Pool

Composition in Water and Stone

Taking It In

Water Pebbles

Wild Water, Sacred Stone

To me, metaphors like "The Tree of Life" or "The Perennial Stream" refer to God, to all of Creation, The One, the Universe, ALL, however you want to say it. It's the same thing: the generative power/miracle at the core of Life, that allows us to BE, as individuals and in diversity and relationship, connected to the larger scheme.

I see in all of nature (humankind included) the principle of differentiation and diversity, yet needing to, at the same time, stay aligned and empathic with The Whole.

A river flows downstream from the mountain above, as a singular, dynamic entity. But all its rhythms and patterns change as it turns, trickles, charges, and eddies over the changing terrain. As it is with the blowing leaves and the boughs on the trees.

We lose our personal power if we try to live it in a vacuum, isolated or unmindful of The Whole. Just as we lose our personal power if we attempt to guard or hoard it. We must interact, in concert with the larger truths of LIFE beyond our personal subjectivity.

I dedicate this post to all my blogging friends and especially to Max, because our discussions inspire me. You can read about paradox and duality, or Yin and Yang, at Wikipedia.

All text and images c Lynda Lehmann. If you would like to view more of my art or make a purchase, please visit Lynda Lehmann Painting and Photography or my gallery at Imagekind, where you can buy my prints plain or matted and framed.

Sacred Patterns: Light Creates Shadow

When we take the time to really LOOK at things, age-old patterns are revealed to us. These are the patterns that transcend time and particulars of age, place and species. I see, in the late afternoon light molding these leaf portraits, hints of cosmic power that I cannot understand, but that I know has endured through the ages. I don't believe the diversity and order of the universe are just coincidences, borne of chance and random combinations of circumstance. I believe they are orchestrated by a higher intelligence beyond our comprehension. It disturbs me that humans have a need to provide distinct and rigid definitions of this power and to try to assert the truth of their particular conception. From our need to label things in order to provide ourselves a coherent and comfortable self-definition, comes war, misery, death and destruction.

What matters to me is that there is light and that miracles unfold at every level of the universe. What matters to me is that I believe in God. I sometimes feel the universe is crying at our inability to see the light. It's a paradox that light creates shadow, and people crying out for peace and security, create war. I believe in God, but not in the divisiveness of any dogma that is taken to extreme. Each leaf is different yet the same as all other leaves. Each human is unique and yet part of a larger humanity. When will we see that we are One Humanity?

The above images are"The Enigma of a Leaf," "Curls," and "Sacred Patterns," and will be available plain or framed at my Imagekind site http://lyndalehmann.imagekind.com/ or from me directly at www.lyndalehmann.com/ . All images and text c 2008 Lynda Lehmann. To view more of my work please visit www.lyndalehmann.com , where you can view more than 500 other images, both paintings and photographs.

Where There is Life, There is Hope

I just wanted to upload my photo "Galaxy" before I quit my computer for the day. I've been thinking a lot about global warming this past week, partly due to all the attention to the subject that's been circulating in the Blogosphere. I think that both people and nations are finally getting it, but there's so much work to be done. And it has to begin with us. If we don't find the political will to press for rational and effective legislation, we'll slide further into the horrors of climate change.

I have to comfort myself by telling myself this: While there is life, there is hope. If I can still find beauty on the beach or in the forest, there is hope. If I can see the universe in a cluster of beach pebbles, there is hope.

I wish each of you hope and resolve as you lay your head down tonight. May we all find enough beauty in our world to really cherish it. May we work collectively and as individuals to preserve our Earth.

Image and text c 2007 Lynda Lehmann. To see more of my art or purchase "Galaxy," please visit www.lyndalehmann.com .