Meditation by Kristen
On being a morning glory
(After Josh and Sarah)
Love hides in the crevice of little rocks at the beach
where spiders weave faithfully and crustaceans curl away to rest.
Love sits at the bottom of the pond with the toads, and at the top with the lily pads, and love crescendos on the surface with the water skeeters
(if you blink you’ll miss them)
Love dances in the rain, shatters on the soil, burrows into the roots of trees like girls in poodle skirts sipping sodas.
Love is the rain, and the soil, and the roots
Love is the twirl of the skirt, the flip of the hair, the last slurp of a root beer float.
Love is the mystery of sunrise after demolition,
new babies in war zones,
the call from the doctor.
Love blooms and hides and squirrels acorns away for the winter
And love is the winter, and the ice, and the five feet of snow my neighbor shovels
Love comes out to play in twilight, hide and seek, soccer balls, otter pops
and love wraps her way around fences in the still of the night, quiet, somber.
Love is there in the morning, blooming. Love is my hand on the paper. Love is the paper.
Love is the milk and the honey flowing between us.
Love is the wondering why.
Love bids us welcome,
winks and hides again, till we remember the feel of the walls in the dark, the velvet contours of the search in mysterious crevices of vicissitude.
Midnight, slow moon rising,
Blooming.
Ideas for Play
Contributed by Kristen
- Read from the Book of Mormon storybook (which inspired this week’s meditation!) listen on audible
- Act out the story
- Read the story with your kids! Pick pieces or chapters and read aloud, adding narration if you choose. Discuss as a family.
- Nephi praying coloring page
- Why do you think Nephi loved his name? Does your name mean something special? Do you have family stories that mean something to you?
- How can you be like a morning glory? What does it mean to be vulnerable? Can you practice being vulnerable? How can we bloom even when we’re scared or can’t find/feel love?
- How can we help each other when we’re vulnerable?
Artwork
Compiled by Caroline
Poetry
Compiled by Caroline
What Was Told, That
What was said to the rose that made it open was said
to me here in my chest.
What was told the cypress that made it strong
and straight, what was
whispered the jasmine so it is what it is, whatever made
sugarcane sweet, whatever
was said to the inhabitants of the town of Chigil in
Turkestan that makes them
so handsome, whatever lets the pomegranate flower blush
like a human face, that is
being said to me now. I blush. Whatever put eloquence in
language, that’s happening here.
The great warehouse doors open; I fill with gratitude,
chewing a piece of sugarcane,
in love with the one to whom every that belongs!
On Love
Then said Almitra, Speak to us of Love.
And he raised his head and looked upon the people, and there fell a stillness upon them. And with a great voice he said:
When love beckons to you, follow him,
Though his ways are hard and steep.
And when his wings enfold you yield to him,
Though the sword hidden among his pinions may wound you.
And when he speaks to you believe in him,
Though his voice may shatter your dreams as the north wind lays waste the garden.
For even as love crowns you so shall he crucify you. Even as he is for your growth so is he for your pruning.
Even as he ascends to your height and caresses your tenderest branches that quiver in the sun,
So shall he descend to your roots and shake them in their clinging to the earth.
Like sheaves of corn he gathers you unto himself
He threshes you to make your naked.
He sifts you to free you from your husks.
He grinds you to whiteness.
He kneads you until you are pliant;
And then he assigns you to his sacred fire, that you may become sacred bread for God’s sacred feast.
All these things shall love do unto you that you may know the secrets of your heart, and in that knowledge become a fragment of Life’s heart.
But if in your heart you would seek only love’s peace and love’s pleasure,
Then it is better for you that you cover your nakedness and pass out of love’s threshing-floor,
Into the seasonless world where you shall laugh, but not all of your laughter, and weep, but not all of your tears.
Love gives naught but itself and takes naught but from itself.
Love possesses not nor would it be possessed;
For love is sufficient unto love.
When you love you should not say, “God is in my heart,” but rather, “I am in the heart of God.”
And think not you can direct the course of love, for love, if it finds you worthy, directs your course.
Love has no other desire but to fulfil itself.
But if you love and must needs have desires, let these be your desires:
To melt and be like a running brook that sings its melody to the night.
To know the pain of too much tenderness.
To be wounded by your own understanding of love;
And to bleed willingly and joyfully.
To wake at dawn with a winged heart and give thanks for another day of loving;
To rest at the noon hour and meditate love’s ecstasy;
To return home at eventide with gratitude;
And then to sleep with a prayer for the beloved in your heart and a song of praise upon your lips.
Music
Compiled by Caroline
milk & honey mamas 
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