Category Archives: Notes

We seem so frightened today of being alone

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purpleraysblog's avatarPurplerays

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“We seem so frightened today of being alone
that we never let it happen. Even if family, friends
and movies should fail, there is still the radio
or the television to fill up the void. . . .

Now, instead of planting our solitude with our own dream blossoms,
we choke the space with continuous music,
chatter and companionship to which
we do not even listen.
It is simply there to fill the vacuum.
When the noise stops there is no
inner music to take its place.
We must re-learn to be alone.”

~Anne Morrow Lindbergh

Artist~Alfio Presotto 1940
Text & image source: Moonlight Serenade https://web.facebook.com/Moonlight-Serenade-228504310532112/ ·

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1339. There is an ancient tribal proverb I once heard in India. It says that before we can see properly we must first shed our tears to clear the way. ~Libba Bray

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Glory be to you, O God,
for the grace of new beginnings
placed before me in every moment
and encounter, good or bad, of life.
~Edited quote by
John Philip Newell

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Wood as found in the natural world is, in and of itself, beautiful; the same is true of marble. However if wood is to be used in the making of a violin for example, some tools needed to hollow and shape the wood accordingly are chisels, knives, saws, scrapers. groove cutters, hole reamers, and peg shavers. And some tools needed to gouge and shape something out of marble are chisels, hammers, drills, rasps, files, and abrasive sandpapers, all of which in both instances can and do draw blood and extract the proverbial “pound of flesh” if used on we mortals. And the point of such is? Well, in a way these processes correlate to human suffering and what it can and often does achieve in a person’s life. For it is not until the wood is gouged out and shaped that its “voice,” AKA it’s exquisite sound, is released from the wood to bless our ears, and it is not until someone like Michelangelo gouges around and in a piece of marble that magnificent angels appear from deep inside the marble’s being to bless our eyes. So it was that when reading a comment today by a fellow blogger who has endured much “gouging,” it finally dawned on me in light of her struggles and mine as well as those of others that it is not until the soul is “gouged” out that we mortals are able to give “voice” in some way to garnered wisdom and profound truths. Thus trials should be seen as gifts to be embraced and celebrated, not mourned and regretted. However being appreciative of pain is something most of us find difficult at best. Clearly though “had the eye no tear, the soul would have no rainbow” nor would the dark depths of the soul ever come into healing light. The passages of Scripture below as well as others tell us to be “content” and even “thankful” about losses and painful trials for they are blessings brought forth from the scraping, gouging, and shaping the Lord has done and continues to do in our souls in order to set free “earth” angels, to give life to sacred and powerful voices, to fulfill ordained purposes, and to help bring about the memory of what we left in childhood that my dear friend calls the “soft glory of our being.”

Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. ~James 1:2-4  ✝

Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer. ~Romans 12:12  ✝

For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong. ~2 Corinthians 12:10  ✝

And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you. ~1 Peter 5:10  ✝

**Image found on the Internet; special effects done on by me on spicy

My garden of flowers is also my garden of thoughts and dreams.

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purpleraysblog's avatarPurplerays

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“In my garden there is a large place for sentiment.
My garden of flowers is also my garden of thoughts and dreams.
The thoughts grow as freely as the flowers,
and the dreams are as beautiful.”

~ Abram L. Urban

~ Image by Thomas Vanderheyden
Text & image source: The Garden Of Pensiveness https://web.facebook.com/The-Garden-Of-Pensiveness-367268523352486/

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I’m sorry but…

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I’m sorry but I’ve held my tongue as long as I can about what’s going on in this country. If what I have to say incenses you or offends you, then I suggest you hit the unfollow button. It has simply become too sickening and disheartening to witness life in the USA come to the point where death threats and the destruction of property is supported and condoned over an election result. Sadly now it seems it’s no longer “we” the people any more. Instead it has become an ugly and divided nation of democrats versus republicans who cannot or will not get along for the good of the country and “we” the people. Whether one likes this president or not, it behooves ALL of us to support him and help in any way that we can to keep this country from going down in utter ruination. How truly tragic it would be to see this once great nation come to potentially absolute destruction because of the current hate mongering, hate filled rhetoric, and divisiveness. It just staggers my imagination and makes me sick to my stomach. My father fought for this country as have a multitude of others, and I’ve always been proud to be an American, but tonight I am thoroughly disgusted and ashamed of the state of the union. There are men and women all over the world who are putting their lives on the line to protect us and our country, and they deserve better than what’s going on back at home. Maybe we should ask every mother or wife or sister or brother or husband or father who has had to be told their loved one died protecting us whether or not they give a rat’s ass about who’s a democrat and who’s a republican. My guess is they’d just want to know that their loved one didn’t die in vain for people who didn’t give a damn about anything but their own special interests. Wake up America and get it together before it’s too late!!!

I appreciate all the comments that have been made here and have tried to answer them all. Because I don’t approve of name calling and try not engage in the blame game, I’ve edited a few of them. There have already been more than enough egregious things said and done pertaining to this election. Perhaps I shouldn’t have posted this, but freedom of speech is guaranteed by our constitution. Now that I’ve had my say, I will step back and do my best to support our President-elect. May God bless America, and may the Lord guide Mr.Trump and his cabinet in every decision they make.

1338. The joyful heart sees and reads the world with a sense of freedom and graciousness. John O’Donohue

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Like the joy of the sea coming home to shore,
May the relief of laughter rinse through your soul.

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As the wind loves to call things to dance,
May your gravity by lightened by grace.

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Like the dignity of moonlight restoring the earth,
May your thoughts incline with reverence and respect.

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As water takes whatever shape it is in,
So free may you be about who you become.

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As silence smiles on the other side of what’s said,
May your sense of irony bring perspective.

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As time remains free of all that it frames,
May your mind stay clear of all it names.

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May your prayer of listening deepen enough
to hear in the depths the laughter of god. ~John O’Donohue

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Worship the Lord with gladness; come before him with joyful songs. ~Psalm 100:2  ✝

**All photos found on Pinterest;
special effects on the last two were done by me on iPiccy

1337. Of winter’s lifeless world each tree now seems a perfect part; yet each one holds spring’s secret deep down within its heart. ~Edited quote by Charles G. Stater

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Now winter nights enlarge
The number of their hours;
And clouds their storms discharge
Upon the airy towers…
~Thomas Campion

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Gray, foggy dreariness
ushered in the day;
A mist, a cold, frigid drizzle,
fell from on high;
Bare, starkly austere, lay everything
I could see; and
Silence, a stilled quietude, blanketed
my wintry garden.
Bleakly naked, towered tall trees that
stood above all else,
But underneath them from the secret place
murmured a voice,
The sacred, almost indistinguishable, faint
whisper emerged amid
The fog and fine rain to go forward undetected
past the woody sentinels
To allow its utterances to break into morn’s reverie
to tell of signs, longed for signs
Of tiny sparks of life that are preparing to push up
despite the gloominess
And ‘twas this message that stirred embers in my spirit
to keep their glimmer from
Becoming far too dim to continue sustaining my hope,
expectations, and “joie de vie.”

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Don’t think the garden loses its ecstasy in winter.
It’s quiet, but the roots are down there riotous.
~Rumi

The tempest comes out from its chamber, the cold from the driving winds. ~Job 37:9 ✝

**Both photos taken by Natalie

Bittersweet

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Laurie's Notes's avatarLaurie's Notes

It was bittersweet

to realize

I  had spent

a long time

struggling against

a part of myself

and a denial of myself

and had even been encouraged

to continue.

I found no relief

in that —

ever.

But there was

a turning around —

a softening —

a quiet letting go —

a returning to

my own natural center.

And there,

finally.

was peace.

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