Rose Garden in the Moonlight

'I have a rose garden'; she said.
The petals opened as I gazed.
'There are no thorns at all,
'It's a mystery, come in and see' she whispered,
as I lingered at her gate,
but at her invitation

I entered without wait.

(click to enlarge photograph)

Text and photographs Copyright 2008 David H. Roche

Fellow Travelers

When you take the time to look into the sky for a few hours, especially the night sky, and you observe the moon you know that it is not hanging there, you know that something is moving. When you think about it you know it is always moving and if you think further you understand that everything is always moving. The conclusion is that we are traveling together.

There is a commonly accepted view that who we are is determined by the sum of our thoughts and confined in a bag of flesh that is given shape by our bones. However careful scrutiny has revealed this to be an illusion. Accepting this illusion as genuine results in the troubles that we have in the world today. It results in wars between people and it results in isolating the individual and hiding him / her from him / her self.

This destruction of the self replicates itself in the world at large as people join themselves into groups, societies and governments, resulting in greater widescale destuctive activity. This is all derived from the illusion of a seperate self.

What is genuine is that everyone and everything is interconnected with everything else to such a degree that if you step back far enough it will become clear that everything is the expression of one living organism i.e. the universe. Once this is understood there can be a genuine caring for those we consider others because they, the others, are in reality our own self. Christian thought requires us to love others as we love ourselves, and this construction of reality allows that to happen as a matter of understanding the nature of life. It also opens up the door to a genuine ethical base that requires no artifice to make it work.

This is an idea that seems at first glance to be unusual: I think it is true. So I look at the sun and the moon and the stars and feel the breeze on my skin and I see it all and I see myself within the same setting they are in and part of it as well. I see myself moving with it endlessly, independent of this bag of bones and small collection of thoughts and ideas that are clamoring to identify me and chain me in one spot.

Step back and get the whole picture.That was the underlying idea in my mind when I took these photographs.

Enjoy the slideshow.

http://s170.photobucket.com/albums/u241/Hermenutic/?action=view&current=e7143dab.pbw

Text and photographs Copyright 2007 David H. Roche

Time

Take a walk out the end of the driveway with me and around the corner to Silver Street hill.

There's a lot happening here on the hill over time, and time just keeps on being here.

We'll look at just a little bit of it. There's a lot more.

First of all let me show you the hill in winter. It's not an inviting place.

But in summer. It's much nicer.

In between a lot happens. In the slideshows you can see some of what goes on.

Beginning at the end of my driveway is a field of buckwheat with a barn about a mile away in the middle of the photograph. Next there is a view of two barns. The older of the two has been the subject of a lot of my photographs and can be seen in earlier blog entries. Looking down Townline Road to the west my dog Boo is doing whatever it is she does. She's an old gentle dog with a quiet spirit.

http://s170.photobucket.com/albums/u241/Hermenutic/?action=view&current=c6d6271d.pbw

Around the corner on Townline Road and onto the crest of Silver Street hill a panorama comes to view. Most of the photographs in the slideshows were taken about 8:30 on the evening of July 18th 2007

Along the roadside there are many marvels. Mostly flowers that make me smile. Here are a few I saw this evening. Some experiences have made it hard for them, but they have taken it in stride. No matter what, they have survived and will continue to do so. Let's take it from a place close to the beginning. We call it the beginning, but in forever there is no beginning.

We start with Day Lily shoots in April and looking at how they have progressed and the neat things that accompany them. It's all blossoms from that point on. We're walking together along the roadside. An interesting feature of the Day Lilies is that their tubers, which are small fleshy white nubs, and their petals are edible. The tubers have a mild onion flavor, and the petals can be used as a colorful and edible garnish for salads.

http://s170.photobucket.com/albums/u241/Hermenutic/?action=view¤t=68d9b426.pbw

On the way back up the hill we find these beauties.

http://s170.photobucket.com/albums/u241/Hermenutic/?action=view¤t=6a82eb17.pbw

There are ways but the Way is uncharted;

There are names but not nature in words:

Nameless indeed is the source of creation

But things have a mother and she has a name.

The secret waits for the insight

Of eyes unclouded by longing;

Those who are bound by desire

See only the outward container.

These two come paired but distinct

By there names.Of all things profound,

Say that their pairing is deepest,

The gate to the root of the world.

The above passage from the Tao Te Ching - The Way of Life is
Translated by Raymond B Blakney 1955. The entire text is available at the link below.

http://www.mountainman.com.au/taotrans.html

Except for the passage taken from the Tao Te Ching the photographs and text are produced by David H. Roche, copyright 2007