It is good to find things to savor.
But the truth is, we probably don’t need to find them. We likely already know the simple joys that are worthy of our attention and gratitude. We just need to be mindful of them.
Many things are worth savoring because they aren’t around consistently. One of mine — in fact, what initiated this post — is starting my morning with the windows open. I love this… It won’t be around forever. It’s cyclical.
It’s good to find things to savor.
–Renee Roederer
Yesterday afternoon, I took a ferry to Put-In-Bay, Ohio, an island in Lake Erie. It was a gorgeous day. Not pictured: I rented a golf cart and drove it around for a few hours to explore the island. This delighted me. I’m ready to do it all over again.
– Photos by Renee Roederer
During an evening walk, I found this view to be stunning at dusk. As the sun was setting, the clouds were pink. This lasted for only a few minutes. Everything was changing, and I could have missed this moment easily. I’m glad I was there to look up, and I’m grateful I snapped a photo of it.
About once a week on this blog, usually on Saturdays or Sundays, I share images and call the post, “Today in Nature.” On Facebook, however, I share such photos daily. There is so much beauty to notice daily, and when we’re transitioning from one season to another, these daily changes become even more abundant.
Last night, I was thinking about this daily practice I have, and I was remembering something wise I heard in a TedTalk, though please forgive me because I’ve forgotten who the speaker was. He was talking about nature and how to motivate people to care for the earth. We may be greatly motivated at times by the devastating and scary reports about the unfolding climate crisis — that is true. But he also said, “We will protect what we love.” So he tries to help people fall in love with nature.
I hope in a tiny way, my photos are doing that. But most of all, I want to encourage people to get outside — walking, sitting, noticing, slowing down. As we care for our mental health in these ways, we may also fall in love with what’s around us.
–Renee Roederer
Please allow me to post something very niche.
I was taking a walk, and I did a really funny double take when I saw this graffiti on the wall (first picture) and for a split second thought it was the logo for the Presbyterian Women magazine (second picture).
Can you imagine some older Presbyterian women sneaking out at night in a college town to mark territory?
Yesterday, I learned that author and theologian Frederick Buechner died. In honor of him, I would like to share this post again.
I’ve written about this before, but it’s on my mind again this this morning, so I thought I’d share it once more. I love a particular quote from Frederick Buechner.
This quote has been voiced during milestone events in my life and the lives of people I love. I first heard it when a loved one spoke it aloud to frame my ordination service (that was so meaningful). I have voiced it when I’ve officiated weddings. I wrote it at the beginning of someone’s commencement letter.
There’s something special about this because the quote has become communitied. Ordination services, and weddings, and commencements. . . A whole bunch of people in my wider community know this quote and hold it dear. Here it is:
In the entire history of the universe, let alone in your own history, there…
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During his time as a Presbyterian pastor, my chosen Dad, David, used to do this silly little thing unconsciously until we pointed it out to him. Every time the church sang the hymn “Amazing Grace,” and we hit the highest note —
“Amazing grace, how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like *meeeeeee*”
he would lift himself up high on his toes as he reached for the note. It was a very dear visual. He would do this on every single verse, mostly unaware that he was doing it.
Yesterday, I led a church service, and we sang this hymn. In a very subtle way (nowhere as obvious as he used to do) I flexed that part of my foot and lifted myself ever so slightly higher just to feel connected to him.
Three years ago, I found six baby bunnies in the alley near Pinball Pete’s in Ann Arbor, and I brought them a plate of grass, and they all gathered around it and ate it.
I still can’t believe that happened to me.
–Renee Roederer
Smuggling Grace 