Dogs and Beaches.

A painting of a dog on Easter? Now, why did I not do something more religious for this very special day for so many? 

I suppose the easy answer is that I have painted very little else this last week but this and another dog.  Each individual hair was painted and each individual stroke time and thought. I was doing it for somebody held special.

I will return to that thought before I finish.

I always find this time of year very emotional in so many ways. For years it was a very important time in my life. Good Friday I would conduct a three-hour service between 12 noon and 3pm in the afternoon of led meditation and the singing of hymns. One such that one of my friends reminded me of the other day. The last verse of that song written to the tune of Taste of Honey was about Resurrection.

Good Friday evening I held an all-night vigil in the church again people could come and go at any time.

Then on Easter Sunday up early to walk with others to Watch the sunrise on Easter Morning. 

All of those memories come flooding back and I see the faces many who shared those moments with me, some now no longer alive. I find it very emotional. 

No longer being a minister I do not have those things to fill my time and energy. I fill the days with another kind of intensity. I always try to do something that involves an act of love and caring.

This year it was the painting of two dogs and I hope in the days ahead they do just that. 

Not completely off the mark for this day. 

I said I painted every single hair and every stroke was done with meaning. One of the poems I wrote many years ago on an Easter Sunday on Iona.

Iona Beach

I stood upon that lonely beach

Sunrise and the beauty of it all

Coeruleum the sea stretched out,

to kiss the waiting sky

Caressing the Dutchman's cap,

Crashing on the shore of Staffa

Beating against the walls of Fingal's Cave with a timpani of sound.\Bare feet warmed by golden sand. Whispering grass atop the white-faced dunes.

No words will ere express that inner beat. In the midst of majesty so rare.

In the lingering moment when time stood still

so small I felt.

Stooping I took within my palm 

a million grains of sand

and let them trickle through outstretched fingers

reminding me that time moves ever onward.

He knows each grain, each golden gem.

In that same knowing care

he holds me also

each hair upon my head he counts.

Matter? 

Yes, I do!

For I am held in hands that do not let slip through

or fall away.

In every moment of each day, I am precious.

I know that for many who will read this today this will be a very important day full of thoughts and memories. 

Others will not. Easter will be just another day on the onward passage of life. For them, I hope that today they are aware, like me, that life and each of us are indeed precious and have a part to play in the beauty of creation.

A happy Easter to all. One last thought about dogs.  You own a dog, you feed a cat. Both in their own way return the love and kindness.

Forgive my emotional rants and thoughts. Have a great day.