“If nature
is your teacher,
your soul will awaken.”
~ Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
~ Image by Allan Wallberg
Photo & text source: ॐ Nature Heals, Nature Reveals ॐ https://web.facebook.com/%E0%A5%90-Nature-Heals-Nature-Reveals-%E0%A5%90-729612107082182/
The stars at night – are big and bright
Deep in the heart of Texas.
The prairie sky – is wide and high
Deep in the heart of Texas.
The sage in bloom – is like perfume
Deep in the heart of Texas…
~Excerpted lyrics from a song
by June Hershey
Texas is a state of mind. Texas is an obsession.
Above all, Texas is a nation in every sense of the word.
Like most passionate nations, Texas has
its own
history based on, but not limited by, facts.
~John Steinbeck
I have said that Texas is a state of mind, but I think it is more than that. It is a mystique closely approximating a religion. And this is true to the extent that people either passionately love Texas or passionately hate it and, as in other religions, few people dare to inspect it for fear of losing their bearings in mystery or paradox. But I think there will be little quarrel with my feeling that Texas is one thing. For all its enormous range of space, climate, and physical appearance, and for all the internal squabbles, contentions, and strivings, Texas has a tight cohesiveness perhaps stronger than any other section of America. Rich, poor, Panhandle, Gulf, city, country, Texas is the obsession, the proper study and the passionate possession of all Texans. ~John Steinbeck, 1962
And, “Texans for the most part have never learned to be dull,” accurately quipped Randolph Campbell.
As I’ve said repeatedly the intense heat of the Texas summer has always been difficult for me to tolerate. It forces me to stay indoors much more than I like, and being separated from the earth and God’s voice in the natural world starves my spirit. However, I have come to love much of the unique Texas experience, and I am thankful that the Lord created the man or woman who invented air-conditioning. I’m grateful too that our house has lots of windows so I can at least see my yard during times when it’s just too miserably hot to be out in it.. Also after I bought a digital camera, I’m able to save the garden’s glory in photographs that help me make it through the times when the summer heat temporarily robs the landscape of much of its beauty. How blessed are we that the work of His hands is as apparent as ever in His world.
And my God will meet all your needs according to the riches of his glory in Christ Jesus. ~Philippians 4:19 ✝
**Images found on the Internet, Pinterest, and Pixabay; collages by Natalie
Suffering invites us to place our hurts in larger hands.
In Christ we see God suffering – for us.
And calling us to share in God’s
suffering love for a hurting world.
The small and even overpowering pains
of our lives are intimately connected
with the greater pains of Christ.
Our daily sorrows are anchored in a
greater sorrow and therefore a larger hope.
~Henri J.M. Nouwen
As I grapple with summer’s still sweltering heat, I have to remind myself that humanity has observed adverse aberrations of nature millennium after millennium and that out of the chaos order eventually returns. Author, Peter Saint-Andre, says nature “can inspire, enlighten, send shivers up the spine, delight, anger, frighten; it can make one think, feel, shake one’s head in astonishment, cry, laugh out loud; it can evoke feelings of triumph, melancholy, light-heartedness, serenity, excitement, boredom, rightness, anxiety, joy, sorrow.” And I agree with him on all counts but until some level of coolness settles, it is challenging for me to experience much excitement and serenity. Only now when, in the midst of the feverish misery, the wild purple eryngo blooms does the melancholy begin to lift a little.
Even if He causes suffering, He will show compassion according to His abundant, faithful love. ~Lamentations 3:32 ✝
**Image taken by me along a country road in our area. These amethystine beauties can be found blooming this time of year in fields ravaged by summer’s heat.
Clouds of insects danced and buzzed in the sunlight,
and the air was full of the piping of the song-birds.
Long glinting dragon-flies shot across the path, or hung
tremulous with gauzy wings and gleaming bodies.
~Edited excerpt from Arthur Conan Doyle
Did you know that there’s always a party going on in a backyard. Yes, indeed there is, and the guests frolic on their flooring, the ground, and under the “coffered ceiling” of the sky. Some even “boogie down” underground; thus a lawn, not just the grass, is alive. And the world out there is filled with beasties that buzz, tweet, squawk, flutter, scurry, build, dance, burrow, hoot, chase, pounce, and soar among other things. Not only that but the party goes on 24/7. If you don’t believe me, just step outside sometime, take a look around, and listen.
Depending upon the season and time of day or night, you might hear a chorus of amphibians, insects a buzzin’, and birds a callin’ or a singin’ or a drummin’. And those noisy birds, for example, just might be a gatherin’ nesting materials, or a feedin’ on berries or insects, or a splashin’ around in a birdbath. Whilst the birds are doing their things, the butterflies and bees might be a fluttterin’ about and a sippin’ on the nectars in flowers. If not that, then you might find a “hophopper” a chowin’ down on a tasty leaf or a dragonfly a skimmin’ across a surface of water. Or you might even find something exotic like my friend in the photos above a lookin’ back at you and gettin’ perturbed because you’re too close to its perch, so close in fact that it raises an arm of warning to scold you. When I find a praying mantis like this one, they are often on a rose bush which is where I found this one. Well actually it was on the trellis where the rose was, but I think he’d made his way from the rose over to it in hopes he could scare off dusk’s unwanted interloper.
For who scorns the day of small things. ~Excerpt from Zechariah 4:10 ✝
*The collage of praying mantis images at the top created by Natalie from photos via Pinterest
What an amazing photograph! It truly is a beautiful epitome of an autumn ballet!
“By all these lovely tokens
September days are here,
With summer’s best of weather
And autumn’s best of cheer.”
~ Helen Hunt Jackson
~ Image “Autumn Ballet” by Jacky Parker
Text & image source: The Garden Of Pensiveness https://web.facebook.com/The-Garden-Of-Pensiveness-367268523352486/
One who not merely beholds the outward shows of things,
but catches a glimpse of the soul that looks out of them,
whose garment and revelation they are–if he be such, I say,
he will stand, for more than a moment, speechless with something
akin to that which made the morning stars sing together.
~George MacDonald
A new day woke to dawn’s sweet song
Winged creatures warbled to rejoice
Sunlight chased the night shadows long
Blue skies bow as day’s colors hoist
Hued symphony of the new dawn’s might
Winged creatures warbled to rejoice
Nature’s perfection in our sight
Creation gives salutations
Hued symphony of new dawn’s might
Rivers and streams sang oblations
Watery praises raised on high
Creation gives salutations
The sun marched across the sky
A glittering parade in stride
Watery praises raised on high
The light grew stronger as the night died
A new day woke to Dawn’s sweet song
A glittering parade in stride
Sunlight chased the night shadows long.
~A terzanelle by Kristen
Wake up, my soul! Wake up, harp and lyre! I will wake up the dawn. ~Psalm 57:8 ✝
**Images via Pinterest; collage by Natalie
“Connection with gardens, even small ones, even potted plants,
can become windows to the inner life.
The simple act of stopping and looking at the beauty around us can be prayer.”
~ Patricia R. Barrett
~ Image “Bring me to life” by Angi Wallace
Text & image source: The Garden Of Pensiveness https://web.facebook.com/The-Garden-Of-Pensiveness-367268523352486/
**Image found on Pinterest
Sacred Touches 