-Christine Valters Paintner @ Abbey of the Arts

  Yesterday I splurged on a bouquet of peonies and proceeded to fall completely in love with them when I got home.  I have never before spent so much time gazing at and inhaling the scent of these splendid flowers.  I cultivated my new love through the lens of my camera.  Some days the abundance I find in words and images is enough to break my heart wide open. What has broken your heart open this day? -Christine Valters Paintner @ Abbey of the Arts

  What a gathering-the purple tongues of iris licking out at spikes of lupine, the orange crepe skirts of poppies lifting over buttercup and daisy. Who can be grim in the face of such abundance? There is nothing to compare, no need for beauty to compete. The voluptuous rhododendron and the plain grass are equally filled with themselves, equally declare the miracles of color and form. This is what community looks like- this vibrant jostle, stem by stem declaring the marvelous joining. This is the face of communion, the incarnation once more gracefully resurrected from winter. Hold these things together