I am sitting at my kitchen table in the Lowlands and yet feeling connected in heart and spirit with you, my dear reader. With readers from Arizona, California, Dallas, and Canada to Nagasaki, Nigeria, Germany, France, and anywhere in between, I feel very blessed that most of us sat at the same table at some points in our lives and that we are still in touch, although currently with some screens in between.
Today, I would like to take you along on a little trip through the hillsides of central Germany. And we will discover what an elderberry, a bird and a Rule of Life have in common.
A few days ago, we headed to Schwarzenborn, which we regularly do around four or five times a year. The seminar of the theological school of the Reformed Epispcopal Church is based there. This is the church we connected with while in Croatia (2015–2019). After our move, our connection remained, but the focus has changed over the years to a more general involvement for Jelle as deacon for missions in an European context – not connected to a congregation, but to the whole of the church. It is a suitable task for a generalist. Here you see us at his commissioning, earlier this year.
While he and the others are inside gathering with other participants, I wander around in the fields to recharge and connect with nature, my soul and our Lord. To do this trip several times a year is a lovely rhythm.
We’re 600 meters above sea level. The lupines are nearly past bloom. But I notice that the jasmine is still in full bloom here. The elderflower has already been out of bloom for weeks in the lowlands; it went very quickly because of the drought.
And YES! I got another chance here! I do not have to search for the elderberry bushes; they are everywhere and easy to find. I check to make sure the blossom was still of good quality and my decision is quickly made.
I take off for a walk down the hill into the village of Schwarzenborn to buy some lemon, a necessity for syrup. The kids drove together to a swimming pool nearby. (the loveliness of grownup kids) so I was alone and free – a rare combination in my full days.
My plan is to fill a few buckets here with elderberry flowers, lemon and water, so I can finish it at home a day later. This mixture has to stand for 24 hours. The four-hour drive won’t do it any harm.
The birds and bees in the fields are making their sweet noises without end. I’m reminded of what we read at morning prayer:
Let everything that has breath, praise the Lord!
Psalms, ancient poetry.
Those lines resonate in me while I wander through the rolling countrysideof Little Red Riding Hood Land (Rotkäppchenland), picking my way along winding paths and the edges of fields.
All the sorrows and worries of the past weeks that had burdened my weary heart seem to fade away.
How well these small creatures that I meet on the way seem to understand that encouragement to praise the Lord. Knowledge offers no guarantee of understanding the good, true and beautiful. Without knowing, nature seems to understand. What do these creatures know? What do we know?
The tiny flowers are maybe better at praise than we are. They do not think, doubt or grow restless. There is just joy, in all its variety, in all its fullness, inviting the birds, the bees, to join in communion, praising and glorifying day and night.
No thinking, no doubt, no restlessness. Just joy. In all its variety, in all its fullness. Inviting the other creatures, birds and bees, to join in communion, praising and glorifying our Creator.
At the local village store, I buy a couple of nets filled with lemons, a snack and some drinks for the journey back. The boy at the cash register quickly noticed that my German isn’t so good. He mentions that he was at the Dutch coast and how beautiful it was. Another greeting in broken German and I walk away.
At the exit, I meet one of our German friends, who hugs me warmly. That is the result of coming back to a community again and again. The boy at the cash register raises his eyebrow. So much for being a stranger when I’m hugging locals. I smile inwardly in silence.
The heat is serious for a Northern European like me. There is a wonderful spring halfway up the hillside. A lovely bench next to the spring in half shade makes it a perfect place for a little break. I take a dip in the spring, eat my snack, let myself dry in the sun and can’t believe my luck with all these tiny gifts of goodness that make it a perfect day. The peace that fills me in these hours is beyond understanding.
The air is thick with the heavy, sweet smell of elderflowers, and I soak it in. Fields of elderflower bushes! Once you recognize the elderflowers, you see them everywhere – here, close to an old shed, too high to reach without a ladder.
All these tiny gifts of goodness that make a perfect day.
12 liter; 12 kilo sugar; 300 flower umbels; 12 lemon
I measure the contents of the buckets and measure 13 liters. That is serious!
I need an old chair and scissors to reach the most beautiful flowers. It is best when the pollen is still on it and it is not picked too late in the day. That spreads that wonderful smell and gives the syrup its flavour.
The next day, back in the Netherlands, I searched for bottles, but the first four stores did not have what I needed, so I drove to the nearest Ikea.
Don’t forget to sterilize the bottles in boiling water.
Enjoy the process, smells and shapes, colors and textures. And, of course, the result:
For those of you who love lists, numbers and prices, here are the costs:
Bottles: 70 euro
Lemon: 3 euro
Sugar: 30 euro
For those of you who love an elderflower recipe: And yes, you can go wild – gin, cordial, syrup or something else. Go creative! In Canada or northern parts of the globe, you still have a chance!
Jelle and I also gave a workshop/teaching about a Rule of Life.Of course, Jelle did the general part and I the specific.
Jelle paved the way for me. It was so nice to do this together! And guess what? Somebody offered to ask his sister to translate the workbook into German! And I just got back: She agreed! So, there will be a Dutch, English and German translation of the workbook: How to develop your personal Rule of Life.
We got a wonderful conversation afterwards. This HOLD ON. method is a gentle invitation to know yourself and your gifts and needs better and to act on that.
Sadly, we do have serious trouble with self-publishing the workbook about a Rule of Life in English.So, any reader, who knows a publisher in the States, Canada, the UK or in any other English-speaking country, do let me know. The book is very well-received here. I hope that more and more readers may learn to live a life with rest, rhythm, focus and flourishing with their God-given gifts.
And what do those birds, flowers and a Rule of life have in common?
We all flourish with uniquely God-given gifts.
Wishing you a happy summer! Lovely to hear from you, as always.
“Let all that has breath, praise the Lord”
– through writing, studying, singing like a bird, swinging in the wind like a flower or just being you, just as you are.
