Mycology 2.0 by Father Paul
The mushroom is not static or steadfast. One of the things I enjoy about my mycology photography is the ephemeral nature of the mushroom. Too early and it is a bunched up little ball sticking to the ground. Too late and it is a syrupy pile of decomposing mush. But at just the right time a mushroom can stand proudly with its chest out, fully extended in its full glory.
Sure some mushrooms are more robust, your hen and chicken of the woods. There are mushrooms that grow on the bark of trees that may stick around year after year. But most of the really unique ones tend to last a day or so at the longest and some seem to melt away as soon as the sun hits them.
One Sunday, I was walking to the parish house from the church when I noticed this small pale green mushroom poking its head up through the mulch. “I can’t wait to see what it looks like tomorrow”, I thought. Then on Monday morning all that was left was a puddle of dark brown sludge. I had missed the moment of beauty. The new mulch along the sacristy sidewalk provides lots of little grey mushrooms that are still there at 8:00 but by the 10:15 service they have dissolved back into the ground. The graveyard is always full of a delightful variety of long lasting wood decomposers and gentle gorgeous yellow and red rotters.
The need to appreciate things as they are, when they are, is an important skill to develop. The need to conserve, control and possess is a strong pull that is part of our desire to maintain security. Like the mushroom, God is not static, but ever changing, God too should be seen here and now, and not seen as something we can control or posses. But like the mushroom, if we look at the right time, God’s beauty is clear to us. Too early and God may seem like God is not there. Too late and you may find a pile of sludge. But God is always there, under the surface. Waiting for the moment we recognize the beauty of God’s creation.