Announcement! Starting this month Horizon Gate is incorporating Donna’s blog, Photo Musings, into our stream. Photo Musings offers nature photography to encourage contemplation and peace. Web pages will soon provide the archive of Donna’s past blog posts. This is her first Horizon Gate post.
Passion Flower
When I first discovered this flower I had no idea what it was called, or that there were centuries of stories and legends associated with it. I just thought it was beautiful. Before I go into detail, I ask you to simply stare at this flower, and wait for your own story to appear. Breathe, and wait.
Now, you may be wondering why this is called the Passion Flower. It refers to the Passion of Jesus – or what happened on Good Friday. (See Matthew 26 & 27) As far back as the 1500’s, Roman Catholic priests had developed the story of the Passion Flower. They even used it as a teaching tool in the New World.
Ten Apostles (?)
The priests proposed that the five petals, and five sepals should represent the 10 apostles. (The two missing apostles are Judas the betrayer and Peter, who denied Christ that evening.)
Crown of Thorns +
The wavy circle of thin rays were said to represent the crown of thorns placed on Jesus’ head during his trial. The three stigmas at the top are reminiscent of the three nails holding Jesus to the cross.
Only One Day
These beautiful flowers die after only one day – the same length of time Jesus spent on the cross. If you would like to spend more time meditating on Jesus’ Passion, Mark produced a short art film (with a little help from me) in 2024 which shows some of the conditions of the world which Jesus’ Passion was in solidarity with. The film was commissioned by The Rev. Rick Malec to play in the sanctuary of United Methodist Church of Temecula, California, on Good Friday when people come to devote special time remembering Jesus’ ordeal and death. Watch the film and read Mark’s commentary HERE.
Keep in mind, Good Friday is not the end of the story. Just as Jesus did not stay in the tomb for long, we also can break out of whatever is binding us, holding us back, and experience New Life. I wish you a blessed Holy Week and a wonderful Easter!
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We are preparing archive pages to view my previous posts from the last 2 years. Coming soon….
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