Good morning…
“I love love love this photo and the joy and peace it pours into the dreams gestating in our hearts,” I texted the artist, my dear friend Corinne Adams. “I am spending the morning meandering through Julie Harlan’s prayer journals, discerning in more detail the root system beneath Julie’s Dream.”
“It’s a dream scape, indeed,” Corinne texted back. “A reflection of a window in an impoverished Latin neighborhood in Los Angeles where I was walking with a friend. I call it Tree of Life, harkening back to the Garden of Eden and reflecting the multi layered gifts that God has in store for each of us.”
In the first book of the Bible we read about the Garden of Eden. Then the Lord God caused all the beautiful trees that were good for food to grow in the garden. In the middle of the garden, he put the tree of life and the tree that gives knowledge about good and evil (Genesis 2:9, ERV).
“Sometimes we see only the outer glass layer of things (the window itself),” Corinne’s text continued, “but with contemplation, we begin to notice the rich possibilities within. Infinite depth, an invitation to be curious about what lies beyond our first sight.”
“It’s a dream scape, indeed!” I replied. “I love the name Tree of Life and even more that it reflects an impoverished Latin neighborhood where you were walking with a friend. So so many layers of God’s gracious goodness can be noticed when we say ‘yes’ to contemplating the rich possibilities within. When we say ‘yes’ to going infinitely deeper. When we say ‘yes’ to being curious about what lies beyond our first sight.”
“Thank you for helping me to see God’s abundance more and more, in everyone and everything!” I said. “From heaven, Julie is teaching me the exact same expansive lesson through her prayer journals in this very moment.”
“I am sure the journals are rich,” Corinne encouraged. “And so inspiring. God still working through Julie.”
“Yes, God is still working through Julie in such surround sound,” I concluded. “Julie’s Dream is less about taking impoverished kids out of their comfort zones to challenge them with outdoor adventures. It is more about authentic relationship with our living LORD, with our unique self, with God’s great creation, and collaboratively with each other. This was Julie’s Dream, and I am fascinated to be reading the roots of this ministry written in Julie’s lovely handwriting. What a wonderful way to spend a cloudy day, pondering the multi layered gifts God is growing in our midst on the everlasting Tree of Life.”
By the last book of the Bible, it seems the tree of life has expanded to bridge each side of the street, in the middle of the city, producing lush fruit every month, year after year. The angel showed me the river of the water of life, clear as crystal. The river flows from the throne of God and the Lamb. It flows down the middle of the street of the city. The tree of life is on each side of the river, and it produces fruit every month, twelve times a year.
The leaves of the tree are for healing the nations (Revelation 22:1-2, ERV).
Corinne’s dreamy photo of the Tree of Life and Julie’s detailed prayer journals both capture the lush leaves God is growing among us for the healing of all nations.
…Sue…
