A Doorway Into Thanks
“It doesn’t have to be
the blue iris, it could be
weeds in a vacant lot, or a few
small stones; just
pay attention…this isn’t
a contest but the doorway
into thanks, and a silence in which
another voice may speak.”
~ excerpt from Mary Oliver’s poem “Praying”
For two months now, I have spent many hours each day, being taught a powerful lesson in paying attention.
My teachers are the flowers in a large painting (8 feet wide) that I am creating for All Saints’ Episcopal Church Carmel.
On the canvas, nine calla lilies reach their trumpet-shaped blossoms heavenward, while boughs of wisteria, the most fleeting and delicate of spring flowers, bloom in glory above the lilies. A single butterfly, the universal symbol of transformation, dances among the flowers.
At times, this painting has been daunting. The scale of the canvas and the very public place where it will be permanently installed has weighed on me, and some days I left the studio overwhelmed by the vastness of the project.
But the flowers have been working their magic on me too. Even on a day when it seemed I was making zero progress (all those wisteria petals!), my attention would be caught by the graceful curve of a calla, or the lavishness of the wisteria’s hues. And I would be instantly snapped out of my need to “make progress” and would simply revel in wonder and gratitude for the mysteries of all these flowers – and of the glorious life around me.
There are still many weeks of work left on the painting, but the flowers continue to remind me that beauty and wonder are just a glance away.
The painting will be unveiled as part of the 75-year anniversary cerebration for All Saints’ Episcopal Church on July 26, 2026.
