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.

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

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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.