880. Autumn comes with a subtle change in the light, with skies a deeper blue… ~Glenn Wolff and Jerry Dennis

The stretch between dusk and dawn
A mere whisper in the wind
~reocochran at:
https://witlessdatingafterfifty.wordpress.com

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And so it has been with the coming of the autumnal equinox. Autumn is yet a mere whisper in the wind between yesterday’s dusk and today’s dawn. However, with its arrival the “powers of summer” must now slowly disrobe themselves and go back from whence they came. Despite being sapped and dry from surviving the dog days of summer’s wrath, we should now be able to anticipate the coming of fall’s crisp days that will invigorate us, to hear murmurs of music in untamed winds that will blow freshness into us, to watch bird migrations that will that lift our spirits in the deepening blue skies, and to expect blustery storms that will infuse their energy into our heat-wearied flesh. Oh autumn, how happily we greet thee with our eager yearning for your scents and shapes, sounds and hues.

The birds are consulting, about their migrations,
the trees are putting on the hectic
or the pallid hues of decay,
and begin to strew the ground,
that one’s very footsteps may not
disturb the repose of earth and air, while
they give us a scent that is
a perfect anodyne to the restless spirit.
Delicious autumn!
My very soul is wedded to it, and if
I were a bird I would fly about the earth
seeking the successive autumns.
~George Eliot

Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows. ~James 1:17  ✝

**Image via Pinterest, text by Natalie

879. You are not too young or too old; it is never too late to dive into your increasing depths where life calmly gives out its own secret. ~Adapted line by Rainer Maria Rilke.

Each one of us has an inner room
where we can visit to be cleansed of
fear-based thoughts and feelings.
This room, the holy of holies,
is a sanctuary of light.
~Marianne Williamson

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Sanctuary, on a personal level, is where
we perform the job of taking care of our soul.
~Christopher Forrest McDowell

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The ache for home lives in all of us,
the safe place where we can go
as we are and not to be questioned.
~Maya Angelou

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A sanctuary is your space,
a safe place in a troubling world,
private and strong for healing wounds
an oasis where you can relax
take off your shoes
enjoy being your true self
feel free, think big, think small
take your time and breathe
savor the moment
open up your heart and
laugh, cry, or be crazy if you like…
“Remember the entrance 
to the sanctuary is inside you.”
~Rumi

You’re my place of quiet retreat; I wait for Your Word to renew me. ~Psalm 119:114 (MSG)  ✝

**Top photo is a view of my garden, my own personal sanctuary; the other lovely ones are via Pinterest

878. TODAY!

Relax. Refresh. Renew.

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Play. Sing. Laugh.

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Enjoy. Forgive. Dance.

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Love. Hug. Kiss.

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Dream. Explore. Create.

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 Listen. Trust. Learn.

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Share. Hope. Dare.

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~Steve Maraboli

Did I offer peace today? Did I bring a smile to someone’s face? Did I say words of healing? Did I let go of my anger and resentment? Did I forgive? Did I love? These are the real questions. I must trust that the little bit of love that I sow now will bear many fruits, here in this world and the life to come. ~Henri Nouwen

Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously. ~2 Corinthians 9:6  ✝

**All images via Pinterest

His Face

Marie Hunter Atwood's avatarUpward Bound

My Comment:
This is a poem about ‘seeing’ God. Of course I am aware that in our human state we do not see Him, and yet I would suggest to you that there are many ways of ‘seeing.’ Seeing Him in the realm of beauty, especially if that beauty is a part of nature is, for me, a natural part of living. Where better to see Him than in the creation which He made…the beauty, the peace, the comfort of His presence as well as the comfort of His promise “if you seek me you will find me.” Here is my poem:

Soft falls the night, pensive, still
Wrapping arms of silence
About the woods and hills.
But of you listen closely
There is something you will hear
The echoes of His greatness
Whispering in your ear.
And if you’ll then remember
To look up and seek His face
You’ll see His…

View original post 25 more words

877. Your heart is just a beatbox for the song of your life. ~Sandi Thom

I have lived pain, and my life can tell:
I only deepen the wounds of the world
when I neglect to give thanks for
the heavy perfume of wild roses in early July
and the song of crickets on humid summer nights
and the rivers that run and the stars that rise
and the rain that falls and all the good things
that a good God gives.
~Ann Voskamp

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You unravel me with a melody and
surround me with a song.
I’m encircled in Your songs of deliverance
and know that I am your child, oh God.
So I thank You and praise Your Holy Name.
All I want now, dear Lord, is to be still, resting
in Your Grace, knowing that you are God.
~Random lyrics and thoughts borrowed
from songs sung in church today, Natalie

He put a new song in my mouth, a hymn of praise to our God. ~Excerpt from Psalm 40:3  ✝

**Image via Pinterest

876. Photograph: a picture painted by the sun without instruction in art. ~Ambrose Bierce

  Sometimes I do get to places just when
God’s ready to have somebody click the shutter.
~Ansel Adams

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For the beauty of the earth,
For the glory of the skies;
For the love which from our birth,
Over and around us lies;
Lord of all, to Thee we raise
This, our hymn of grateful praise.

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For the wonder of each hour,
Of the day and of the night;
Hill and vale and tree and flow’r,
Sun and moon, and stars of light;
Lord of all, to Thee we raise
This, our hymn of grateful praise.

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For the joy of ear and eye,
For the heart and mind’s delight;
For the mystic harmony,
Linking sense to sound and sight;
Lord of all, to Thee we raise
This, our hymn of grateful praise.
~Folliot S. Pierpont

He put a new song in my mouth, a hymn of praise to our God. ~Excerpt from Psalm 40:3  ✝

In Silent Mists

Healing Soul Streams's avatarHealing Soul Streams

s of s 15437fdb7b902bbea5dcb7902d695ae3s of s 82b6e1893572ff5e606dfbee2cceae39

~ ~ ~ slowly ~ ~ ~ and in silence the mist absorbs
the lakes and the hills . . . trees become indistinct
and distance vanishes . . . . . .

only the flowers and grasses nearby seem to be
on this earth ~ ~ ~ ~ birds fly out of nowhere and
back into nowhere again . . . . . . . .

There is intimacy in the soft air ~ ~ reverence ~
and peace . . . . . . . . the great peace of
a soul that knows that the sun still shines ~ ~ ~
~ ~ that the hills and lakes are just beyond ~
~ ~ ~ where they have always been ~ ~ ~ ~

and ~ knowing these things ~ ~ ~
finds loveliness in the mystic mist . . . . . . . .

~…

View original post 5 more words

875. The foliage began losing its freshness through the month of August, and here and there a yellow leaf shows itself like the first gray hair amidst the locks of a beauty who has seen one season too many. ~Adapted quote by Oliver Wendell Holmes

Lord, it is time.
Summer has been very big.
Lay thy shadow on the sundials,
and on the meadows let the winds go loose.
Command the last fruits that they shall be full;
give them only a few more southerly days,
~Adapted quote by Rainer Maria Rilke

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September days have the warmth of summer in their briefer hours but in their lengthening evenings a prophetic breath of autumn.  The cricket chirps in the noontide, making the most of what remains of his brief life.  The bumblebee is busy among the blossoms of the aftermath, and their shrill and dreamy hum hold the outdoor world above the voices of the songbirds, now silent or departed. ~Rowland E. Robinson

Awake, north wind, and come, south wind! Blow on my garden, that its fragrance may spread everywhere. Let my beloved come into his garden and taste its choice fruits. ~Song of Songs 4:16  ✝

**Image via Pinterest