There will be no chatter, names, captions, labels, or spelling, just flowers and their spiritual power. I look forward to seeing you on Sunday. People tend to forget what flowers are really about. Stay warm and dry. I give thanks for every day I live.
(Standing in the Cambridge Food Pantry and going over the wish list with Sarah Harrington this morning, I couldn’t help but think the food of the day needed to be almost everything on the entire list: hot and hearty dinners like Campbell’s Chunky Soap, Steak, and Potato and Mary Kitchen’s Hash Corned Beef. Both are on the list, along with other things needed and already taken, from toothpaste to diapers.) We couldn’t pick just one. I just wanted to let you know that we will meet tomorrow.
I came in search of pictures that capture the profoundly spiritual feeling of the place, the good people who work so hard and quietly to store and stock the food.
I was mesmerized watching the quiet and busy volunteers prepare for Saturday night’s dinner. It takes a lot of work.
I couldn’t help but think of St. Terese of Lisieux, my inspiration for the Army Of Good, the creator of the notion of “The Little Way,” small acts of great kindness, the mission of our remarkable group of people who wish to do good. You don’t need to be rich, consequential, or even religious.
Sarah Harrington reminds me of her: Little Ways, a small voice, a lot of faith huge results.
One Pope called St. Therese the greatest saint of all time. Although I am not a Christian, she has influenced my life and search for a spiritual direction and made the very idea of spirituality accessible to all of us, regardless of faith, power, or money.
“Doing good that you must do,” she wrote of kindness. (Above, Sarah Harrington And Scott)
A biographer of St. Terese wrote that it is difficult to breathe the spirit of St. Terese into a loveless world. Labors of love, she believed, are attempted and achieved through obedience to love and faith. No one is too small to care for others.
I am neither rich nor powerful nor religious. But love comes from the heart of any spiritual person, from Sarah to Volunteer Scott Eddy (above) to the scores of hardworking, quiet, and dedicated people who made time day after day to stock shelves and unpacked boxes.
It is neither glamorous nor work that will make them rich (they are paid nothing), but it is glorious work. I was touched watching them, people of all ages, faiths, and backgrounds.
I decided to focus today’s Pantry Post on the volunteers, all of whom agreed to let me take their pictures, for which I am grateful. Pictures often say more than words. They don’t know how to lie.
I didn’t ask or write down names; they were not interested in praise or recognition. There were many more than I had room to post.
“We need this charm, this littleness, this simplicity,” one student of St. Terese’s work wrote. “Our caring hearts need the prattle and the rippling laughter of little children; they need the pure-white snow rops of their innocence; they are starving amid plenty for lack of the simple Faith and utter trustfulness of Childhood.”
Those are the feelings I saw and felt watching the volunteers do their quiet and hard work.
This strange age seems to be progressing backward in many ways, deeper and deeper into the darkness of lost faith, anger, cruelty, and hopelessness. It loves the glitter and glow of money, fame, and power, but the quiet, simple, humble, and pure makes it yawn and spit in contempt.
I felt this purity of faith talking to and listening to the volunteers; they were shrouded in empathy, compassion, and spirituality. They all believe in good without fanfare or reward.
I took these photos of them because they perfectly captured the spirit of St. Terese and her “Little Ways” of doing good.
“Beautiful simplicity, how charming thou art!” she wrote. “Littleness and lowliness and love are the three-leafed clover of thy heart.” She was also known as the Little Flower, another inspiration for my flower photographs, which are a purely spiritual experience to me.
Volunteers
I only took one name of the volunteers: my friend Scott Eddy (when I first met him, he introduced himself as “Eddy,” his first name is Scott. I’m glad to correct that mistake.
Sarah in the storage room: The shelves are complete, and the storage room is empty; that’s how it goes.
(They need everything at the pantry: toothpaste (they are down to two) and salad dressing; it is flying out. Check out the Wish List, which is updated daily.)
The Army of Good fits into the pantry like a glove. We are about simplicity and the small gifts of great kindness. They are powerful in their way.
All you need to do is look into the faces and spirit of the pantry volunteers, and you can see St. Terese’s Little Way alive and powerful and sailing through the ages.
Scott Eddy needed to go on my portrait list of people I admire and respect. He is always there.
The longest storm is ending; the sun is peeking through. I thought I’d celebrate with a morning flower.
Bud and Zip have never come nose to nose with one another; Bud isn’t allowed to run freely outside, as he likes to chase and kill things, including chickens. Fate is grumpy around cats; she doesn’t hurt them but likes to try to herd them, which doesn’t work out.
Yesterday morning, they all came nose to nose at feeding time. Zip was awaiting his morning food; Fate was ready to go out, and Bud was staring at Zip, who stared right back. It was a standoff. When we came to the door, Zip headed for the barn and his meal; Fate came out to be with the sheep, and Bud stayed in the house, staring. One day, these two (Zip and Bud( will meet. Bud will get a nose swiped.
So far, Zip is afraid of nothing I can see except the sound of tractor-trailers roaring down the road. He stays away from them, as smart barn cats tend to do.
Photo by Maria Wulf
I was in the kitchen when I felt the ground rumble and heard a strange growing sound. You all know about the earthquake, but there was no damage here; a lot of surprise. I did look out the window and saw the donkeys look around, rattled, but it was gone in a second.
I was shocked when my daughter texted me to say they felt it in Brooklyn. Anyway, here’s the flower art show for tonight. Mother Earth keeps trying to wake us up. Below is today’s flower art and experimentation.
This was an excellent day for the blog. The spirit was strong as more boxes streamed into the Cambridge Food Pantry. We have had enough meanness and hatred. We want something more. The pantry has given us a chance to have more. Thanks.
I’m negotiating for another lens, trading and pleading to get an unusual old lens that will give me another surprisingly inexpensive feature in my photography. I’m having fun wheeling and dealing. Stay tuned. I’m learning that lenses can last a long time, especially when the alternative is paying Leica’s prices. Sigma lenses have saved me, especially the older ones. B&H Photo is helping me, and I’m grateful.
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Sue Lamberti of the Cambridge Flower Shop bought a lot of flowers for Easter, and a few are left and can’t be sold. When I went in looking for some fresh flowers to photograph, she generously gave me these tulips that were too old to sell.
I’ve been sniffing around like a dog at the dump.
The flowers she gave me are pretty young to be photographed. Sue has a sharp idea for flowers that make good photographs, and I am grateful for her suggestions and support.
They have gotten me off to a good start, especially before I have my flowers in May or June.
I told her she’d be seeing me all summer, and I appreciated her instincts and friendship.
