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“Please open wide,” he said in soothing tones. Goggled, bibbbed, and slightly tilted backwards upon his dental chair, I closed my eyes and prayed, “God’s care,” with each breath. Bit by bit, I felt my body relax, my spirit welcoming God’s hands replacing the filling from my molar that had fallen out. With Jessica’s assistance, the hole was soon filled. A simple procedure, yes, but one that I had dreaded, given my weakness and shortness of breath and coughing spells.
Indeed, I did experience God’s care tending my damaged tooth, yesterday, and for twenty years, his specialty in biological dentistry that informs his practice; it has kept me well with dental products compatible to my bio-chemical make-up—No metals of any kind in my mouth.
When it was time to part, his eyes smiling, he placed his large hand upon mine and said, “I wish you well.” In that moment, our spirits co-mingled within deep joy, evidence of His healing touch.
His name is Dr. G. Michael Rehme, DDS, located in Town and Country, Missouri. His son Michael, a dentistry practitioner, has recently joined the practice.
The simplicity of this photo touches me: three pears, one attached to its leafy branch, one sitting on its bottom, and one sliced open, revealing its seeds and the creamy white of its fruit. Next to it lays the wood-handled knife on a plank table. A close look at the photo’s composition reveals its artistry and significance.
Featured within are four items, the number for wholeness, for balance that frames the viewer’s experience—a grounding that compels its evolution, accompanied by warm inner stirrings.
Next comes the selection of color: the yellows, dull and limish; the browns, dark and rustic; the greens, pointed and jaded; and the whites, luminous and milky. Subtle shadows set off the pears and spark desire to touch their coarse skins, to experience their sweetness.
Their stems resemble cut umbilical cords, its fruits, now on their own.
Sharp angles contrast with roundness for added drama. The worn appearance of the knife and table suggest seasoned hands that know foods, their preparation, and presentation.
So much for my impressions of this photo.
It also speaks to my present circumstances. The first pear suggests my having been cut off from the tree of health; the second, my ripening; and the third, the cutting/transition and full revelation of my sweetness.
For the present, my ripening morphs into simplicity and I’m grateful…
The year was 1786, the setting, Boston’s Bunch of Grapes tavern where former officers from the War of Independence gathered. Among them was the Reverend Manasseh Cutler, with doctorates in medicine, law, and divinity. Such opens David McCullough’s historical novel, The Pioneers—The Heroic Story Of The Settlers Who Brought The American Ideal West (2020).
Besides writing of notables in American history, McCullough wanted to present patriots, unknown to history, whose critical influence directed its development. One of these was the Reverend Manasseh Cutler (1742-1823), First Congregationalist pastor in Ipswich Hamlet, Massachusetts. His vision for the Northwest Territory (north and west of the Ohio River) included the prohibition of slavery, the freedom of religion, and state-funded public education, all of which occurred, despite bitter disputes in the Capitol.
McCullough’s discovery of the archives at Marietta College, located in Marietta, Ohio—the first settlement of the pioneers—gave him access to the diaries and letters of Manasseh Cutler and four other families, together with newspapers, pamphlets, and other books. All of which the author wove into a compelling story of ingenuity and daunting hardships: the virgin terrain to clear for log cabins and farms, the extremes of weather, diseases and accidents, clashes with Chief Pike of the Seminoles, the British threat during the War of 1812, and the lack of funds, also in the country, as a whole.
Despite such hardships, the settlers, many from Puritan backgrounds, rarely gave up. Just got up the next morning and saw what was left and started over.
Knowledge of their perseverance attracted thousands of American and European settlers wanting to experience this world of rich soils with their bountiful produce. Live was different here.
David McCullough, now in his mid-eighties, keeps alive the innate goodness of America’s foundation and development in his historical novels and reminds us to be grateful for our heritage.
Heart Whisperings 