What a beautiful mess this is...

Though I normally go to church on Sunday mornings, I elected instead today to take my worship time out with my camera; to go where it led me and see what there was to see: I just needed to spend some conscious time in the now.

There was a bit of a haze in the air, so I went down to Waterfront Park to see if the boats were calling to me today, but instead I ended up walking along the path beside the water, and found this luscious madrona tree.

As I continue building my comprehension of what it means to be One with the Divine, I cannot help but think this tree -- this image -- has something to teach me/us. There is the outer shell -- dry, gray, lifeless and broken, and yet, through its woundedness we see the glorious inner aliveness that flows through the tree, glowing, rich, connected, colorful, sinewy... And together they are one, whole inner and broken outer, arching over my path, providing shade in the summer and pleasing vistas throughout the year.

For my hymn this morning, I was given A Beautiful Mess, by Jason Mraz. Here's a sampling from the lyrics...

"You've got the best of both worlds:

... You are strong but you're needy, humble but you're greedy
Based on your body language and short cursive I've been reading
Your style is quite selective but your mind is rather reckless
Well, I guess it just suggests that this is just what happiness is

Hey, what a beautiful mess this is...

Although you were biased I love your advice:
Your comebacks they're quick and probably
Have to do with your insecurities
There's no shame in being crazy depending on how you take these
Words they're paraphrasing this relationship we're staging...

... And the kind and courteous is a life I've heard
But it's nice to say that we played in the dirt
'Cause here, here we are, here we are

Here we are, here we are
Here we are, here we are
Here we are, here we are
Here we are, we're still here

And what a beautiful mess this is
It's like taking a guess when the only answer is yes

And through timeless words and priceless pictures
We'll fly like birds not of this earth
And tides they turn and hearts disfigure
But that's no concern when we're wounded together
And we tore our dresses and stained our shirts
But it's nice today, oh, the wait was so worth it."

This life we lead... it's not tidy, or even remotely perfect; not always courteous or kind. But it's rich, and glorious, and we're still vibrantly, deliciously in the midst of it, wounds and all.

It's all good.