On Saturday morning I went to House of Hope Presbyterian Church to hear one of my true mentors. John Philip Newell is an author, poet, and carrier of the wisdom of Celtic spirituality. He was the former warden of the Iona Community which continues to thrive on a tiny island off the coast of Scotland. This community is one that embraces the various traditions within the Christian church and also affirms and recognizes the faith traditions of others as yet another lens for our understanding of the Holy. He is a gentle, soft spoken man who always stuns me with his humility.

As I sat down at one of the round tables that filled the room, I noticed the small, purple primrose that sat at the center of the table. I looked across the room to see these little harbingers of spring on each of the tables. Most were shining their little petal faces toward the sky, but the one on the table I had chosen, sat wilted and quite sad looking. I walked over to the table with refreshments and filled a glass with water, bringing it back to the table to give the sweet flower a drink.

Speaking one of the many prayers he has written, Newell began our morning: “Light within all light, Soul behind all souls, at the breaking of the dawn, at the coming of the day, we wait and watch.” There were many people in the room. Some I knew. Others were strangers to me. We had all come for our own particular reasons. As I sat there I realized, perhaps, I was much like the primrose on our table. I was a little wilted and needed a good drink of water. Spiritual water.

The morning’s talk was much about ‘presence’. How are we present to one another in ways that reflect the presence of the God within? How are we Bearers of Blessing in the world? How can we be bearers of Presence? What is the treasure each faith tradition brings to this moment in time to offer to one another and the world? All these questions rolled around in the air of the room. Some people had looks of understanding on their faces. Others fidgeted. Still others looked a bit confused.
I was soaking the words of the morning in as the spiritual nourishment I needed.

And at some point of the morning, I realized I had become presence for the primrose on the table. By sitting still in this gathered group of people, I was able to watch the purple petals with their brilliant yellow centers revive their vitality. I was able to observe their ever-so slow rise to their full flowering. I am certain I have never really done this before. I have always watered plants on the fly only to be surprised later by how the gift of water revives a them, returning leaves and flowers to their true and beautiful self. But to sit, to be present, and watch it happen is another thing altogether.

The morning flowed on and I felt more and more filled with Newell’s lovely, hopeful words for how we can be bearers of blessing for the healing of the world. The longer I sat, the more I felt my own limbs and my own spirit fill with the nourishment they needed.It was pure gift. Like the primrose on our table, I felt I was sitting taller and had returned to full bloom, my true self.

“In the dawning of this day
let us know fresh shinings in our soul.
In the growing colours of new beginning all around us
let us know the first lights of our heart.
Great Star of the morning
Inner Flame of the universe
let us be colour in this new dawning.”

So be it.