The last time I mentioned my plum trees here, I didn’t include a photo of the whole garden, even though I’d taken quite a few. They just didn’t convey what I was seeing. Then a storm moved in and we got drenching rains. It turns out that when the plants are well watered, at the same time that they are leafing out, they start to glow. This special condition is most noticeable when the clouds are blocking most of the sun.
Even though there aren’t many flowers — other than plum — blooming in the back garden, all the different leaf hues and textures add up to a colorful early-spring show.
I’m really grateful to those of you who told me in the comments that you don’t get tired of garden pictures. You encouraged me to keep trying, to look for new angles and views of the “same ol'” plants.
For anyone who is wondering, I’ll tell you what plants are creating the most colorful contrasts right now: Along the back fence, the tall dark reddish bushes are dodonaea, or hopbush; the flowering trees are Elephant Heart plums; the small bushes with new, tiny orange leaves are dwarf pomegranates; the cropped blue-gray bushes along the path are lavender; the pale green swath in front of the plum tree is nigella or Love-in-a-Mist; and olive trees are growing in the big white pots.
In these views you can’t see all the weeds that are also springing up, and with the continuing rains I know there will be more of those to keep up with. But let’s not think about work just yet. There’s a fire in the wood stove, and it’s the season for watching from inside my cozy house as the the cold wind blows outside, making a wild moving picture of my glorious garden.
St. Gregory Nazianzus (or Nazianzen), also known as St. Gregory the Theologian, is one of the Three Holy Hierarchs of the Orthodox Church, along with St. Basil the Great and St. John Chrysostom; and one of The Cappadocian Fathers, along with St. Gregory of Nyssa and St. Basil the Great (of Caesarea). He has been called The Trinitarian Theologian, and you can read a snippet of such theology below. I was intrigued by his also being called The Minstrel of the Holy Trinity, evidently because of his poetic style, and spiritual poetry. I will be looking more into that.
“The result is that though there is numerical distinction, there is no division, there is no division of the substance. For this reason, a one eternally changes into a two and stops at three — meaning the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. In a serene, non-temporal, incorporeal way the Father is parent of the ‘offspring’.”
In the Eastern Orthodox Church, Gregory the Great (590-604) is usually called Saint Gregory Dialogus, Pope of Rome. The Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts, which he compiled, is a service that we use on weekdays during Lent. You can read about his other writings and inspiring life, including several quotes from the saint, 
rapture. Then I too would lift my head because, for that short moment, I would know for certain that love and hope are infinitely more powerful than hate and fury, and that somewhere beyond the line of my horizon there was life indestructible, always triumphant.
Gladsome Lights 