The drawing of this rose for the theme of grace was made while I was immersed in reading the poetry of Philip Whalen, a beat poet in San Francisco who was also involved with the Zen Center here in the city. In particular, the lines: “All of me that there is makes a shadow”, from his poem The Inspection of the Mind in June, caught my attention while the summer roses were in full bloom in my garden.
While drawing a rose and its intricate petals, I was thinking about how each petal, so perfect, casts its own unique shadow which is in part what makes a blooming rose so alluring. It made me wonder about the delicate balance between grace and shadow for me captured in those lines of poetry: “All of me that there is makes a shadow”. One cannot exist without the other - but somehow in our own lives, it's always easier to notice the shadow.
What if the shadows we see could be like a constant reminder of the grace that makes up each of our lives? It's like our rise into grace requires a leap of faith, a desire to believe or remember it, in the face of all the uncertainties we experience in life.
It is a nice reminder from the last card of the deck, isn’t it? Can you see why we needed to add it?
