Monday, May 28, 2012

The Season of Death and Life




In  front of Akahama elementary school of Ootsuchi City in Iwate Prefecture.
One day after working at creating a veggie/flower garden at the back of the temp housing, I halted in front of the school by the mesmerizing beauty of sakura in the heartwarming spring sunshine.
"Snow is growing out from the trees!"  I thought to myself.
Wind from the ocean breezed through the sakura branches, and the petals showered like snow in a winter day.  Standing in a pink wind of flowers, there are no words poetic enough to describe the dazing beauty of the moment.

I scoped up a handful of pink petals from the ground, I thought of Jesus' parable of a kernel of wheat. Unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains as a single wheat. But if it dies, it produces many seeds.
The fallen flowers blend with the earth, and the earth carries its fragrance. Is it the flower or the earth?  It really doesn't matter anymore.  Petals fallen decay over the bitter winter, and become fertilizer for the tree in springtime.    
One God, One Spirit, One Church -- if we can give ourselves to one another, we are One.  We gives, so that one another can become more.
Lying down oneself for one another.  This is the love of Christ.