Letter from Jenny
When we gather to wonder about the sacred,
we begin as separate scraps of cloth,
squares left on the seamstress’s floor.
Perhaps we believe we have nothing to offer
because we are not more whole.
Wonder becomes the needle.
The sacred is green thread.
Communion fills the seams.
And who, or what, is the seamstress?
Of course, we were confused
about our worth.
But my god,
it is beautiful when we can’t help but see
how essential we are—the material of us
gathered into the grand cloth.
It is painful to be pierced in the joining.
No one wants to know this.
And yet each time we wonder together,
and wonder, and wonder,
we learn again just how we fit,
how integral we are, how surely
the cloth needs us all.
- Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer
Dear Springhouse community,
I hope this letter finds you well as we move into the height of spring. All around us, things are emerging and rising into fuller life, even as the world continues to hold such uncertainty and brokenness. The seasons remind us that wholeness is not one condition, but many rhythms held together — growth and rest, clarity and challenge, all part of a living whole.
This points to the theme I want to explore this month in relation to the source of life: the relationship between unity and diversity, distinction and similarity, and what it means for us to truly center the wholeness of life in all that we do.
I recently celebrated my daughter's 22nd birthday at a restaurant here in the Blue Ridge Mountains with my husband, daughter, and her friend. It is hard to believe that Lizzie is 22 years old; I can still remember her following her older brother around in the garden and coming back with loads of carrots. As our meal came to close, the birthday dessert came out with a lit candle, and the server sang, in a very low tone, the classic birthday song. We joined in at the table and soon, everyone in the room was singing. It was precious to see how this one individual celebrating her 22 years on the planet, could bring together a room full of strangers, and even more magical, through a song that we all know. One person’s birthday turned into a whole group singing–unified by a song and a desire to celebrate life. That’s magic to me...
