Tag Archives: God

1230. Those whom God hath joined together, let no man put asunder. ~Author Unknown

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To have and to hold
from this day forward
for better or for worse,
for richer or for poorer,
in sickness and in health,
to love and to cherish
until death do us part.
~Author Unknown

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He was a he, a man seven years older than she, and she was a she, an ingénue about to complete her final year in college. And 53 years ago today, the he and the she became a we. Having met in January and becoming engaged in May James and I were married on August 17th, l963 by his college roommate, best friend, and ordained minister, Ron Engle. Since that day James and I have traversed side by side the valleys of better or worse, richer or poorer, sickness or health and struggled through times good and bad. But thankfully, as of yet, nothing has put asunder what God joined together so very long ago.

“The kingdom of heaven is like a king who prepared a wedding banquet for his son.” ~Matthew 22:2  ✝

 

1229. The glory in the garden lies in more than meets the eye. ~Rudyard Kipling

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Though nothing can bring back the hour
Of splendor in the grass, of glory in the flower;
We will grieve not, rather find
Strength in what remains behind;
In the primal sympathy
Which having been must ever be…
~William Wordsworth

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“Glory days, they’ll pass you by in the wink of a young girl’s eye” goes a line in a song by Bruce Springsteen. And so it is with the morning glory. She comes and spends her brief hour upon life’s stage but that wink of her daily glory lasts a lifetime, at least for me. I adore each and every one that blooms until the vines die with the first freeze. And if there is a blessing in our hot summers here in Texas, it is in that we enjoy a long growing season and our first average freeze date is not until November 15th.

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About this time each year my morning glory vines hit their stride and from here on out until our first freeze, glory will indeed abound in my yard. Each one though it lives but that one day looks like a chalice which holds morning’s light and therefore God’s continuing glory on earth. As such she feeds body and soul with her beauty and she honors her Maker with her glory. So yes, Mr. Wordsworth we shall grieve not the “splendor in the grass or the glory in the flower,” but ever find strength in the “primal sympathy which having been must ever be…”

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morning glory sings in
the highest pitch
that fills
all the
empty spaces
unto the eyes of
the Lord
~Gregory Golden

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But you, Lord, are a shield around me, my glory, the One who lifts my head high. ~Psalm 3:3  ✝

**All morning glory images taken in my yard but not all today

1228. Some days are for living. Others are for getting through. ~Malcolm S. Forbes

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A good day
is a good day.

A bad day is
a good story.

At the end of the day
it’s all good.
~Glennon Melton

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Hmmmm?! Interesting poem up above! Okay then, here goes with the story of my bad day:

I wish I hadn’t had a crappy-assed night last night, but I did.
I wish my head didn’t hurt like hell, but it does.
I wish my feet weren’t painfully on fire, but they are.
I wish I could say it’s raining, but it’s not; it’s only occasional spitting and there’s not much of that.
I wish I could say that it’s cooler, but since the humidity is higher than the temperature, it still feels hot as hell outside.
I wish I weren’t being whiney about all this, but I am.
I wish I didn’t hate all the things that some say to try to make bad days better, but I do right now.
I wish I were clinging harder to God’s goodness and his faithfulness today, but I’m not.
I wish I were able to be more grateful right now, but I’m not.
I wish I knew why I have to deal with so much pain so often, but I don’t.
I wish I knew how at the end of the day, this will all be good, but I “effen” don’t!
I wish that something chocolate, sounded good and could make it better, but it can’t!
Now don’t we all wish Natalie would quit her wishin’ negativity!!!

Doesn’t sound like much of a story to me unless one finds merit it someone else’s pissin’and moanin’!

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“…In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I(Jesus) have overcome the world.” ~Excerpt from John 16:33  ✝

**Flower image taken by me in my yard today; lower image via Pinterest

1227. You must not lose faith in humanity. Humanity is an ocean; if a few drops of the ocean are dirty, the ocean does not become dirty. ~Mahatma Gandhi

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When I despair, I remember that all through
history the ways of truth and love
have always won. There have been tyrants,
and murderers, and for a time they can
seem invincible, but in the end
they always fall. Think of it–always.
~Mahatma Gandhi

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I have heard from two friends today whose hearts have been hurt deeply. And as we all do, they are questioning why and how people can be so hateful and hurtful. Years ago when I was coping with a very hurtful situation, a friend of mine told me that only “hurting people hurt other people.” And over the years since I’ve come to see that Jack was exactly right. But then that doesn’t address another part of my friend’s questioning which was a.) do I think there are more hurting people these days and b.) if so, why? Before I answer that, let me say first that the fact that one of the Adam and Eve’s children killed his brother did not bode well for mankind’s ability to co-exist from the get go. We live in a fallen world in which good and evil do exist and have from the moment the choice was made to defy God’s will. And millennia after millennia has provided more than adequate evidence of a common inability as a whole to be loving and to get along peacefully. Now to address two of her queries; yes, I do think there are more hurting, hateful people, and the source is the media and the internet as you suggested. Just look at what we are being fed 24/7–It’s “cool” to be a bad-ass, it’s “cool” to be disrespectful, it’s “cool” to bully others, it’s “cool” get revenge and on and on it goes around the clock and ad nauseum. But like Gandhi I’ve not lost faith in mankind’s ability to self-correct. And it all starts with each and everyone one of us. The tools at our easy disposal are kind words, kind gestures, and lots of smiles especially to and with those who are hell-bent on behaving badly. We also have to choose to surround ourselves with people who support and affirm who and what we are; we have to choose to walk away from those who want to fight verbally or physically; we have to choose to forgive transgressions which in the end if not released only poison ourselves; we have to choose to be kind to ourselves as well by finding or creating some kind of sacred space where we can restore and re-energize our emotional well being; we have to choose to leave any and all past hurts behind us never to be brought into the present again; and we have to find places and ways to sit in silence in order to listen to the still, small voice inside who loves us and wants to heal our brokenness. And finally we have to greet each day and each breath with gratitude for the gifts that they are; we have to learn when enough is enough; we have to realize the finiteness of each breath, each step, each day; and for heaven’s sake we have to quit trying to seek a “version” of ourselves and find the real, authentic person inside. Is all of the above easy to do? No, but then what is in this life? Is it essential that we try? Yes, for the ones we leave behind when we are gone!

“But to you who are listening I say: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you… ~Luke 6:27  ✝

**Image via Pinterest

1225. I go to nature to be soothed and healed, and to have my senses put in order. ~John Burroughs

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We live on the leash of our senses.
There is no way in which to understand
the world without first detecting it
through the radar-net of our senses.
~Diane Ackerman

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Listen-Do you see that you can’t hear beauty? But you can hear beautiful birdsongs.

Look-Do you see that you can’t smell love? But you can smell the fragrance of a rose when it comes into view.

Touch-Do you see that you can’t see the soul? But you can touch the hand of another and look into his/her eyes, the windows to his/her soul.

Taste-Do you see that you can’t taste color? But you can taste the purplicious flavor of a grape.

Smell-Do you see that you can’t touch the intellect? But you can smell food prepared intelligently for our health.

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Look at the opening sunflower and passionflower above: I can see their beauty; I can hear the buzz of the bees around them; I can touch their petals and leaves; I can taste their edible seeds and fruit; I can smell the earth in which I planted them; and in my garden which puts my senses in order I am soothed and healed by their presence.

Ears that hear and eyes that see—the Lord has made them both. ~Proverbs 20:12  ✝
Taste and see that the Lord is good; blessed is the one who takes refuge in him. ~Psalm 34:8  ✝
Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man. “I am willing,” he said. ~Matthew 8:3  ✝
For we are to God the pleasing aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing. ~ 2 Corinthians 2:15  ✝

**I took both these photos in my yard today.

1224. Music washes away from the soul the dust of everyday life. ~Berthold Auerbach

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Take a music bath once or twice
a week for a few seasons.
You will find it is to the soul
what a water bath is to the body.
~Oliver Wendell Holmes

Do re me fa so la ti–this, the solfège is a music education method used to teach pitch. Syllables assigned to the notes of the scale enable musicians to mentally hear the pitches of music that they are seeing for the first time. But that wasn’t the really the fun thing about it today. Because of it a familiar song came to mind, and singing it washed away the dust of our 105 degree day. As I thought of the SOUND OF MUSIC and the song based on the solfège, it made me smile and say aha about a possible blog post! And with the lack of rain we’re enduring, what better way to take a water bath than with music. So here goes…

Doe-a deer, a female deer

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Ray-a drop of golden sun

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Me-a name I call myself

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Far-a long, long way to go

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Sew-a needle pulling thread

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La-a note to follow sew

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Tea-a drink with jam and bread that will bring us back to do…

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Which brings us back to do…

My heart, O God, is steadfast, my heart is steadfast; I will sing and make music. ~Psalm 57:7  ✝

**All images found on Pinterest

1223. Color is joy. One does not think joy. One is carried by it. ~Ernst Hass

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Joy is the sweet voice, Joy the luminous cloud–
We in ourselves rejoice!
And thence flows all that charms our ear or sight,
All melodies, the echoes of that voice
All colors a suffusion from that light.
~Samuel Taylor Coleridge

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From my hate-the-heat perspective the garden being adorned with crown jewels like these in the collage is one of the few saving graces of a Texas summer. If these flowers had voices instead of brilliant colors, I think that even as buds whose colors had not yet been revealed they would start the day off with soft, murmuring melodies. Then as the day’s flames licked up higher and higher and they burst into bloom, their songs would play on but in loud and bold arias so that the bees, the butterflies, and other pollinators would harken to their lusty, changeling voices. And all the while as the harmonies played on, the insect benefactors would suckle on the tasty fare despite the sizzling sultriness. And I, I would remain the envious onlooker because it is only they and not I who are small enough to crawl down into the gloriously-filled caverns of sweet nectars. Then at day’s end in weariness from performing their noisy choruses and from enduring the onslaught of mugginess their songs would give way to those of the white and silver flowery voices that mingle in with the enlarging and marvelous music of the night. As for me, though saddened by their silence and passing, I would have agree with Barbara Kingsolver who said that “in the places that call me out, I know I’ll recover my wordless childhood trust in the largeness of life and its willingness to take me in” again, another day. Another writer once said that in the isolation and silence of winter one can savor belonging to him or herself. And who knows, perhaps summer allows one to do the same but in a different way, especially when that individual is falling short of being thankful for God’s gifts by fussing about the way they are wrapped.

You(God) turned my wailing into dancing; you removed my sackcloth and clothed me with joy… ~Psalm 30:11  ✝

**All images taken by me in my yard; not all were taken on the same days

1222. We went down into the silent garden. Dawn is the time when nothing breathes, the hour of silence. Everything is transfixed, only the light moves. ~Leonora Carrington

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From within and from behind, a
light shines through us upon things,
and makes us aware that we
are nothing, the but light is all.
~Ralph Waldo Emerson

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I was up early this morning and so went wandering around the yard looking for something picture worthy. As I took these photos, I decided that they were more spectacular because of the play of early morning light on them. I saw only a portion of the flower as I rounded the corner, and even so the light shining through the leaves and the small portion of this flower’s filaments was both magical and mystical. And I’m always struck by how much holiness I sense in the light, even small pieces of it. It’s like God’s radiance falls on things in the garden as well as the sunlight. When it was all said and done, I couldn’t decided which was more stunning, the fragment of the flower or in the whole thing.

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Later in the day during a Bible Study I found myself surrounded by people who like these leaves and flowers were filled with notable and holy spiritual light. In the course of our discussion we talked about the fact that we are all made in the image of God. And so it occurred to me that whenever we look in a mirror we are actually seeing the face of God, coming face to face, as it were, with the very one who breathed life into us. And when you think of it that way, you realize that we are never separated from the Lord, no matter where life takes us or what we do or don’t do. He is always there behind the face, behind the light. Notice in the lines below how the First Nation’s people also connected life with light and breath.

What is life? It is the flash
of a firefly in the night.
It is the breath of a buffalo
in the wintertime. It is
the little shadow which runs
across the grass and loses
itself in the sunset.
~Crowfoot

The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are healthy, your whole body will be full of light. ~Matthew 6:22  ✝

1221. It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye. ~Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

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Remember, the entrance to
the sanctuary is inside you.
~Rumi

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Creation is not simply a gift; it is “a self-giving of God whose image is to be found deep within all living things.” Too, it is the very “dwelling place of God,” Himself. Think about that for a moment and let it soak in. Not only are we standing on sacred ground wherever we go, but it has been and still is a place in which God stands right along side us. That means that despite the fact that His Creation is an ever-present mystery, the faithful, benevolence of its Maker indwells the conundrum. So ‘tis therein He should be sought as well as honored, revered, and trusted. To me, one of the most interesting things to note about Yahweh is that He created light first, and light is at the heart of all life. Thus utter, unending darkness can be naught but self-imposed for the Lord ensured that even nighttime would have a modicum of light from the moon and when its gone from the limitless array of stars. So it is that within the “mystery” of Creation there are parabolic lessons which are sometimes best pondered by the li-li-light of the moon.

Night, the beloved.
Night, when words fade
and things come alive.
When the destructive analysis
of day is done, and all that is
truly important becomes whole
and sound again. When man
reassembles his fragmentary self
and grows with the calm of a tree.
~Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars which you have set in place, what is mankind that your are mindful of them, human beings that your care for them? You have made them a little lower than the angels and crowned them with glory and honor. You made them rulers over the works of your hands; you put everything under their feet… ~Psalm 8:2-6  ✝

**Sunlight and moonlight images via Pinterest

1220. For me, prayer is a surge of the heart; it is a simple look turned toward heaven, it is a cry of recognition and of love, embracing both trial and joy. ~Thérèse de Lisieux

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Prayer is not asking. Prayer is putting oneself
in the hands of God, at His disposition, and
listening to His voice in the depth of our hearts.
~Mother Teresa

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I don’t know where prayers go,
or what they do.
Do cats pray, while they sleep
half-asleep in the sun?
Does the opossum pray as it
crosses the street?
The sunflowers? The old black oak
growing older every year?
I know I can walk through the world,
along the shore or under the trees,
with my mind filled with things
of little importance, in full
self-attendance.  A condition I can’t really
call being alive.
Is a prayer a gift, or a petition,
or does it matter?
The sunflowers blaze, maybe that’s their way.
Maybe the cats are sound asleep.  Maybe not.
While I was thinking this I happened to be standing
just outside my door, with my notebook open,
which is the way I begin every morning.
Then a wren in the privet began to sing.
He was positively drenched in enthusiasm,
I don’t know why.  And yet, why not.
I wouldn’t persuade you from whatever you believe
or whatever you don’t.  That’s your business.
But I thought, of the wren’s singing, what could this be
if it isn’t a prayer?
So I just listened, my pen in the air.
~Mary Oliver

“Now, my God, may your eyes be open and your ears attentive to the prayers offered in this place.” ~2 Chronicles 6:40  ✝

**Image found on the Internet