I have just finished rereading a favorite book: Gift from the Sea by Anne Morrow Lindbergh after selecting it as a wedding gift for a special friend.
It is refreshment; it is captivating; it is challenging; it is riveting; it is personal.
I am indebted to its idea for my book, Bless You Bouquets: A Memoir.
Both are extended metaphors. Both of us have chosen an object (shells for her; flowers for me) to discuss philosophical or autobiographical topics.
In Anne Morrow Lindbergh’s case, a seashore visit alone, minus the trappings of ordinary routines and busy schedules, evolves into a personal narrative based upon seashells she discovers. They then become topics of discussion of her life. The beautiful hinged double-sunshine represents marriage, hence the wedding gift for my friend. The argonauta, where I now reside, pictures the maturity, the letting go stage, the time of reflection and loss of influence, so to speak, over the lives of those closest to us. My mother called it the age of frosting, where she felt the freedom to do whatever she cared to do, regardless, because she saw the freedom that allowed. I have not reached that spontaneity, but long to do so.
In Bless You Bouquets, I present nosegays to those whom I love, in celebration of their preciousness to me. Totally unexpected, these little signs of caring bless their lives for birthdays, during times of stress, or just because I feel like blessing someone on a certain day.I enjoy encouraging others, and when possible, I find this as a calling at this stage of my life.
This week I reach my 74th birthday. I used to think thirty was “over the hill!” Should that metaphor continue, I must be in the foothills of steep mountains, but nearing the bottom, no longer scrambling and climbing to reach the mountain’s apex. That occurred years ago when I had the energy to strive, to follow dreams, to work endlessly toward goals, or to simply keep putting one weary foot in front of the other because life called me to work hard, to raise a family, to accomplish the myriad of tasks I saw once as important.
There’s something to be said spiritually as well. I never felt compelled to legalistic striving to prove my salvation. I intellectually know that the price has been paid by Christ, and Christ alone holds my soul in His capable keeping. My sanctification has blessed me with seeking new ways of serving; therefore I continuously share my faith with others through service. It is the least I can “do” for the one who has done so much for me in this life.
And so, guided by Saturday’s Space Coast Writers Guild speaker on authenticity, by Jerry Klemm’s sermon from Galatians yesterday on freeing ourselves from the chains of legalism and getting down to basics, and from Anne Morrow Lindbergh’s awesome writing in Gift from the Sea, I am filled with ideas and creative energy to face another day, Lord willing. In it may I touch others’ lives to their benefit, may I commune better with the Lord of the Universe, my I bless my loved ones, and may I write one perfect sentence in my newest book effort, Whispering Winds. May it then be a day of promise, and may it end with prayers of gratitude for having lived it.
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