Pondering Hope in Everyday Moments
Like many small towns, Mesilla, New Mexico, has been closed for a few months. However, non-essential retail businesses (except salons, gyms, tatoo parlors, etc.) can now operate at 25% occupancy. It’s good to see some businesses open again. I wish them well.
There were so many cars at the plaza yesterday that I could only take the photo of the book store. I went back early this morning to get the other two.
In Southern New Mexico, gates are very important. New houses often have custom-made iron gates with scroll designs or geometric cut-outs. Those are nice, but my favorites are the wooden gates that grace the historic adobe houses in the area, especially when they are surrounded by flowers. They hint of something even lovelier within the hidden courtyards. They seem to say, ‘What dwells inside is good‘.
A few days ago on our morning walk, my husband and I came across an interesting herd of sheep (we think). At first we thought they were goats, but there was something sheep-like about them. They were doing important work – keeping the weeds at bay under the pecan trees.
I guess these sheep are a little like people. Sometimes it’s hard to tell which ones are the sheep and which ones are the goats.
Only God knows.
One good thing has come about from ‘social distancing’. Every morning my husband and I take a walk together, something we never did in the past. This morning we walked along one of the irrigation canals that meander through the nearby pecan groves. Although spring is apparent in our neighborhood, the pecan trees are still dormant. They won’t come into leaf until May. Soon the canals will be filled with water from the Rio Grande River; the gates into the groves will be lifted; and the trees will be flooded with life-giving water.
Our walk always ends up at the local Post Office. I wait outside while my husband checks our box. We always see someone we know and wave at a distance.
In Southern New Mexico, most farmers still use the ancient method of flood irrigation to water their fields and pecan groves. The Rio Grande River runs from north to south down the center of the state before turning east and forming part of the border between Texas and Mexico. Water is pumped from the river or wells into the mother canals and from there into smaller canals. The farmers open their gates along the way, and water rushes into the fields and floods the land.
This reminds me of St. Teresa of Avila’s analogy of the four ways that she obtained the waters of grace in prayer. In the first, she had to exert a lot of effort to draw water from the well to water the garden of her soul. In the second, devices such as the crank of a water wheel or an aqueduct allowed her to obtain more grace with less effort. (God’s help became more apparent.) In the third, her garden was irrigated with flowing water from a river or spring. (She became even more aware of God’s grace in prayer.) And finally, the Lord poured an abundance of grace on the garden of her soul with no effort on her part at all. (See The Book of Her Life, Chapter 11 et al.)
Since our gardens always need water, may God grant us the grace to continue in prayer when it requires a lot of effort. And may He grant us the wisdom to open our gates when He abundantly offers His gifts.
Contemplation Garden 