Episode 21

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Published on:

17th Jun 2024

The Miracle Celebration

Ghia – Join me as I celebrate Christ this summer season through the miracle and wonder of almond blossoms, ravens, the magic of walking on this earth, along with fully ripe, home-grown strawberries.

Transcript
Speaker:

Hooray.

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Ghia here.

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I'm this week's host of the

creative, spiritual journey podcast.

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Where I talk about the recent

things I've been learning on this

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remarkable journey we call life.

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I mentioned in my first podcast, that

one of my goals is to find ways to

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celebrate Christ in every season.

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With June 20th being the solstice, it

means summer is officially underway.

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And with the 21st being the

June full moon, it means these

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two celestial occurrences are

happening at almost the same time.

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And that to me is something to celebrate.

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So with the celebration already

underway, I thought the summer

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solstice would be a good date for my

summer celebration of Jesus Christ.

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And as I pondered how to celebrate.

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I felt drawn to focus my celebration

on the miracles of Jesus Christ.

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So joy of joys in today's podcast.

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I want to talk about miracles.

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Here's what happened to me?

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My fabulous husband talked me

into driving all the way to

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Oklahoma for the solar eclipse.

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And when we got there.

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It was cloudy.

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In fact, the closer we got to the center

of totality, the cloudier, it was.

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I was sure we should turn around and

find someplace where the clouds were

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thin and take our chances there.

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But my wonderful sister-in-law said.

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We were told to believe in miracles.

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There's going to be a miracle.

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Let's keep going.

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What could I say?

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We kept going.

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And, you know what, when we got

to the spot we had originally

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planned on stopping the sky cleared

and we saw the whole eclipse.

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It was amazing.

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Now you might be saying that

was just a happy coincidence.

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But I don't care.

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I have determined to change my attitude.

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And from now on, I believe in miracles.

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Not just spiritual miracles, but

every day, ordinary miracles.

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I was watching some corny feel-good

movie on Netflix the other night.

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And it started with this quote.

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Either everything is a miracle.

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Or nothing is.

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Personally, I'm going with the,

everything is a miracle option.

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Oh, miracles.

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They are something to be amazed

by something, to be surprised at

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something to look out with, wonder

something that causes us to Marvel.

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There are obviously lots of

miracles in scripture and I

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toyed with picking out seven.

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One for each day of the week for my

solstice miracle week of Jesus Christ.

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But then I decided to simplify

and only focus on my top three.

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These are not by any means the

most miraculous or impressive.

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These are the three that tickle

my heart that make me happy.

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That connect me with the natural world.

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So, and reverse order.

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Number three.

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While the Israelites were

wandering in the wilderness.

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There became a dispute among

the tribes as to who should

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hold certain positions of power.

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I don't know the details,

but to make the story short.

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Moses called all the tribal

leaders together and asked them

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to each leave their personal

staff at the tabernacle overnight.

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In the morning when they returned

errands staff had miraculously

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sprouted, , almond blossoms.

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I love that.

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An old stick that had probably been

sanded and oiled and then carried

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about for years, had sprouted blossoms.

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How amazed and odd do you think those

men were, they must have been blown away.

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Now this isn't an amazing

miracle compared to some of the

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others in the new Testament.

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Of course, the Messiah could

bring a branch back to life.

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In the new Testament, he was

bringing people back to life.

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But here's what I love.

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He could have done any kind of

miracle he could have called down

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lightning or blocked out the sun.

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He could have had people speaking

in tongues, a whole myriad of

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miracles could have been implemented.

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But what did he choose?

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To have an old stick blossom.

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Do you suppose that tickled his fancy.

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Possibly even made him giggle.

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How fun is that?

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Hm.

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I love it.

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Now onto miracle number two.

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I don't think it will surprise anyone

that knows me that I picked this one.

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As recorded and first Kings chapter 17.

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Elijah the prophet.

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Faced with people that refuse

to change their ways declared

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there would be no Dew or rain.

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Basically, he called down a drought.

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Of course that meant he had

to suffer the drought as well.

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But the Lord had a plan and

commanded Elijah to turn eastward

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and head off into the wilderness.

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There he was to hide by a little

Brook, which would provide him water.

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And for food.

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The Lord had Ravens, bring him

bread and flesh in the morning and

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bread and flesh in the evening.

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Now.

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, let me be very clear.

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I hope never to be in need of

Ravens to supply my food, but

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oh, the notion is so romantic.

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I love the idea of a bird

caring enough to feed me.

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I once knew this crazy man who went up to

Alaska and lived with the grizzly bears.

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And while there he ran out of food before

his transportation came to pick him up.

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And he seriously thought he was

going to die because he was too

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inexperienced to realize that humans

can live for weeks without food.

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But he swears that a little Fox.

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He named Timmy brought him food each day.

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He even had pictures of this little Fox.

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I know it's crazy, but I believe in

the magic of animals and that in so

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many more ways than we even realize

they bring miracles to this earth.

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Which leads me to my number one miracle.

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I can't for the life of me recall

what podcast I was listening

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to when I heard this concept.

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Bizarrely.

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I do remember exactly where I was.

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I was out on the Bluffs of half

moon bay, overlooking the ocean.

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So while I would like to give credit to

the teacher of this concept, I can't.

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But given what he had to say,

I think you would be happy to

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have me share his thoughts here.

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They are.

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Everyone talks about the miracle of

Jesus Christ walking on the water.

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And miraculous.

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It was.

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But have you ever considered the miracle?

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It is that each of us

can walk upon this earth.

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This is equally or perhaps

even more of a miracle.

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I learned this concept

during the pandemic.

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And these are the words I

have often prayed since then.

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Thank you for giving me a body and

allowing me to walk on this earth

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in good times, as well as bad.

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The ability to walk on this

earth is truly a miracle.

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I love it.

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I have a body.

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And even though it is made of tiny

little atoms, surrounded by space.

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It is solid enough to walk on

another being made of similar stuff.

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We so often take miracles for granted,

just because we see them every day.

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But truly this whole earthly

experience is miraculous.

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So those are just three miracles from

scripture that I chose to focus on.

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There are so many more.

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In fact, I want to talk about one

more miracle I encountered this month.

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And handily.

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It ties into the name

of the June full moon.

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I hope you aren't tired of me talking

about full moon names because I'm

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not tired of coming up with them.

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I really had no idea how much

I would enjoy the process.

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I mean.

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I hoped it would help me

connect to the seasons.

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I just didn't know, it would really work.

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So here we go.

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Some of the ancestral names for the

June full moon are berries, ripen, moon.

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Birth moon.

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Blooming moon egg laying

moon hatching, moon.

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Green corn moon.

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Hot moon, Homer moon.

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I had to read that one twice.

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That's whore.

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As in a person who weeds

a garden with a ho.

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There was also the Rose Moon

and the strawberry moon.

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After no deliberation whatsoever.

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I went with the most common, well

used name for the June full moon.

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And that is.

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The strawberry moon.

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Apparently I'm not the only one

that resonates with this name.

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Until recently I had never

harvested from a strawberry patch.

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But I have a fabulous friend here in

my little valley who has invited me

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over several times the last couple of

years to pick strawberries with her.

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Maybe you have experienced this.

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But if not, Can I tell

you how much fun this is?

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I mean, it's work, but

it's satisfying work.

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These aren't the biggest strawberries.

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But they are so sweet.

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And I know this might sound a little odd.

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But a magical thing about them

is that they only last for a

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few weeks of the whole year.

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I want to explain why this

short timeframe is so important.

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But first let's talk a little

bit about strawberries.

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Strawberries have been eaten for

centuries and they have a long,

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detailed history of cultivation.

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It was in the early 18 hundreds

that I Chilay and strawberry was

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crossed with a Virginian strawberry.

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And all the modern varieties

of strawberries are a

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descendant from that cross.

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Hmm.

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Interesting.

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Back in the 1990s.

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I used to drive through miles

of commercial strawberry fields

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on my way to work for Patagonia.

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Ironically at the same time, the

company had implemented a campaign

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to stop the use of methyl bromide, a

fumigant being used on strawberries.

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This was an incredibly toxic chemical

that thankfully was banned in:

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not completely phased out until 2016.

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Since then other fumigants have

been developed and put into use.

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Unfortunately, they aren't

much, if any better.

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Which means that strawberries are

at the top of the dirty dozen list.

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Meaning the average strawberry

is incredibly toxic.

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The dirty dozen list is put out by the

EWG or the environmental working group.

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The good thing about this list, is

that if you don't feel up for buying all

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organic fruits and vegetables, You can at

least avoid the most polluted, but here's

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my point before the industrialization

of agriculture, we would have only

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eaten a few handfuls or perhaps a bucket

full of strawberries during the summer.

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Now the average American eats eight

pounds of strawberries a year.

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This might not seem like a big deal.

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Fruit's good for you, right?

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Yes, but it's my belief that our bodies

weren't designed to eat everything

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and anything, all year round.

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We were designed to eat seasonally.

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I realize this is just about

impossible in our current society.

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And what does eating

seasonally mean anyway?

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Right.

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Are there rules.

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I don't have the answers, but it's

something that I'm working on.

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I wish I could remember the year

strawberry started showing up

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in the grocery store all winter.

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Of course I can't, but I do know that

this was not the case when I was a child.

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Back then finding strawberries

in the store was a special treat.

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Something to be looked forward

to something, to be cherished,

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something that meant it was summer.

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So while I certainly wouldn't

refuse strawberries, have someone

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served them to me in a winter salad.

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I personally choose to only

buy them in the summer.

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Now you might choose to say

Ghia, it's a miracle that we

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have strawberries year round.

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And I'm fine with that.

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It's simply my desire to live within

the natural rhythms of this earth.

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And let me emphasize the desire

part, because as I'm writing

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this, I'm thinking about the bag

of frozen fruit in my freezer.

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That contains strawberries.

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It just goes to show that my

desire is a work in progress.

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When I was a little girl, I had a

book called a present for a princess.

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At the time I thought it had

the most beautiful pictures.

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They were soft and sort of dreamy.

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And it had a beautiful

story to go with it.

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Briefly, the story is about a

little blind boy who hearing

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the princess was coming through.

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Town, grew her a perfect strawberry as

the best gift he could ever come up with.

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When the princess received the

strawberry, she popped it into her

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mouth and gave the little boy a kiss.

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Leaving strawberry juice on his cheek.

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That to me is the magic and

miracle of a strawberry.

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It is a special gift from God.

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And one, we should never take for granted.

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So all that said.

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This solstice week of June, I plan

to celebrate the miracles of Christ

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with a handful of little strawberries.

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And maybe a dollop of whipped

cream to go with them.

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I hope you have enjoyed this podcast

and we'll share it with a friend.

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Your help is the only

way this podcast will grow.

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And I want you to know.

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The fact that you showed up to listen

to, my humble offering is a miracle.

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I greatly appreciate.

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Nama stay.

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About the Podcast

Creative Spiritual Journey
one small, deliberate step at a time
We are all on a journey—a journey home to our heavenly parents. Any experienced traveler knows there are days you laugh and days you cry.

We aren’t here to tell you how to live—we are here to share how we live—how we survive, thrive, and even find joy!

The journey gets messy with rainstorms and sleepless flights but the hard times—the miserable times—those make the best stories.

And the vistas, the sunsets, the little birds outside the window—those are the reminders that God is in the details, he is aware of us, he has trod the path before.

The Creative Spiritual Journey Podcast is hosted by Judy and Ghia Cooley—two sisters in their wisdom years—who love the savior and are dedicated to making this journey one small, deliberate step at a time.

Join us!

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Ghia Cooley