708. All that is eternal in me welcomes the wonder of this day… ~John O’Donohue

April 19, 2015 by nataliescarberry

I place on the altar of dawn:
The quiet loyalty of breath,
The tent of thought where I shelter,
Waves of desire I am shore to
And all beauty drawn to the eye.
~John O’Donohue

May my mind come alive today
To the invisible geography
That invites me to new frontiers,
To break the dead shell of yesterdays,
To risk being disturbed and changed.

May I have the courage today
To live the life I would love,
To postpone my dream no longer
But do at last what I came here for
And waste my heart on fear no more.
~John O’Donohue

He (God) performs wonders that cannot be fathomed, miracles that cannot be counted. ~Job 5:9 ✝

706. Spring, the sweet Spring, is the year’s pleasant king… ~Thomas Nashe

April 17, 2015 by nataliescarberry

The rose is a flower of love.
The world has acclaimed it for centuries.
Pink roses are for love hopeful and expectant.
White roses are for love, dead or forsaken,
but the red roses, all the red roses,
are for love triumphant.
~Author Unknown

Beauty is a form of genius –
is higher, indeed, than genius,
as it needs no explanation.
It is of the great facts in the world
like sunlight, or springtime,
or the reflection in dark water
of that silver shell we call the moon.
~Oscar Wilde

Earth, my dearest, I will. Oh believe me, you no longer need your springtimes to win me over – one of them, ah, even one, is already too much for my blood. Unspeakably, I have belonged to you, from the first. ~Rainer Maria Rilke

Rilke took the words right out of my mouth! Earth is all we have, and it is more than enough, to bring us back to the Lord who made it. Every bit of it–every creature, every flower, every tree, simply everything speaks of God’s glory and His love so that we cannot resist looking for Him and listening for His voice. It was part of His plan, and it works well for to belong to the earth is to belong to Him. These two photos are the last in my series of yard photos from my recliner. The first is a close up of the small pink roses on the arch over the little porch outside my studio. The second is farther away from that arch so you can see the size of a Cécile Brünner climbing rose somewhat. Below it and in the background, the darker pink roses are on top of the smaller arch leading to the secret garden at the very back of my yard. The third one can’t be seen from my recliner. It, the entrance to the backyard, fills the window here by my computer with yet another pink climbing rose.

The highest heavens belong to the Lord, but the earth He has given to mankind. ~Psalm 115:16 ✝

705. I love spring anywhere, but if I could choose I would always greet it in a garden. ~Ruth Stout

April 16, 2015 by nataliescarberry

Spring has again returned.
The Earth is like a child that knows many poems.
Many, O so many.
~Rainer Maria Rilke

The naked earth is warm with Spring,
And with green grass and bursting trees
Leans to the sun’s kiss glorying,
And quivers in the sunny breeze.
~Julian Grenfell

Spring was moving in the air above
and in the earth below…
~Kenneth Grahame

The promise of these fragrant flowers,
The fruit that ‘neath these blossoms lies
Once hung, they say,
in Eden’s bowers…
~Walter Learned

All that is sweet, delightful, and amiable in this world, in the serenity of the air, the fineness of seasons, the joy of light, the melody of sounds, the beauty of colors, the fragrance of smells, the splendor our precious stones, is nothing else but Heaven breaking through the veil of this world, manifesting itself in such a degree and darting forth in such variety so much of its own nature. ~William Law

To the Lord your God belong the heavens, even the highest heavens, the earth and everything in it. ~Deuteronomy 10:14 ✝

**Again I was trying with each shot to move further away and incorporate more of the whole yard beyond the foxglove on the pation near the window.

703. Well-apparel’d April on the heel of limping Winter treads. ~William Shakespeare

April 14, 2015 by nataliescarberry

…Thus in each flower and simple bell,
That in our path untrodden lie,
Are sweet remembrancers who tell
How fast the winged moments fly.
Time will steal on with ceaseless pace,
Yet lose we not the fleeting hours,
Who still their fairy footsteps trace,
As light they dance among the flowers.
~Charlotte Turner Smith

First there came yellow,
soft and dotted, next to buds
on a pretty rose

Then appeared a pink
hibiscus with emboldened
stamen and pollen

Next a huge orange
rose with a touch of pink in
her heart’s center

At last there was a
wee rose who bore all shades
amid glossy green
~All haikus by written by
Natalie after a trip, camera in hand,
to a local nursery

I will give you hidden treasures, riches stored in secret places, so that you may know that I am the Lord, the God of Israel, who summons you by name. ~Isaiah 45:3 ✝

702. Is it so small a thing to have enjoyed the sun, to have lived light in the spring, to have loved, to have thought, to have done? ~Matthew Arnold

April 13, 2015 by nataliescarberry

What delights us in the spring is
more a sensation than an appearance,
more a hope than any visible reality.
There is something in the softness of the air,
in the lengthening of the days,
in the very sounds and odors of the sweet time,
that caresses us and consoles us
after the rigorous weeks of winter.
~Philip Gilbert Hamerton

Gerbera, what’s in
a name they say, but yours
belies your beauty
~Natalie Scarberry

May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. ~Romans 15:13 ✝

699. Thou art the iris, fair among the fairest… ~Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

April 10, 2015 by nataliescarberry

Iris was the Greek goddess for the Messenger of Love; the iris, her sacred flower, was considered the symbol of communication and messages. And as it was her duty to take the souls of women to the Elysian fields, Greek men would often plant an iris on the graves of their beloved women. ~Edited commentary by Hana Monogatari

Beauty: the adjustment of all parts proportionately

so that one cannot add or subtract or change without

impairing the harmony of the whole.
~Leon Battista Alberti

As beauteous parts
each add extravagance to
the sum of the charms
~Natalie Scarberry

Rather, it should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God’s sight. ~1 Peter 3:4 ✝

I love the luscious colors of all parts of this iris. Strangely, it was one I planted years ago, but until last year it hadn’t bloomed in some time. I’m so glad it’s back to blooming again.

696. Welcome, wild harbinger of spring! To this small nook of earth… ~Bernard Barton

April 7, 2015 by nataliescarberry

Listen, can you hear it?
Spring’s sweet cantata.
The strains of grass pushing up.
The song of buds swelling on the vine.
The tender timpani of a baby robin’s heart.
Spring!
~Diane Frolov and Andrew Schneider

In the glow of the dawn,
Welcome a new day,
Greet the golden sunlight or rain,
Nature in all its subtlety.
Whip of the wind,
Earth unfolds,
Softly falling rain,
Growing plants and buds blossoming.
Visions of the earth, with glories of nature,
Beauty of the daffodils,
Sunshine and rain from a rainbow,
Awe! Nature in full bloom.
~Blanche Black

The desert and the parched land will be glad; the wilderness will rejoice and blossom. Like the crocus, it will burst into bloom; it will rejoice greatly and shout for joy. The glory of Lebanon will be given to it, the splendor of Carmel and Sharon; they will see the glory of the Lord, the splendor of our God. ~Isaiah 35:1-2 ✝

And so spring begins in my small nook of earth with a smattering of roses and a new piece of yard art. I took this photo early this morning of a portion of the north quadrant of my back yard.

693. Once more to new creation, awake, and death gainsay, for death is swallowed up of life, and Christ is risen today! ~George Newell Lovejoy

April 5, 2015 by nataliescarberry

Angels, roll the rock away;
Death, yield up thy mighty prey:
See, He rises from the tomb,
Glowing with immortal bloom.
~Rev. Thomas Scott

It is by the blood of Christ’s “immortal bloom” that we are washed clean and saved. Should we invite him into our hearts, His body and blood, the “bread of life,” will feed our souls while the Father’s Creation continues to provide the “bread” or “manna” that nourishes our physical bodies. We are invited guests at the Lord’s lavish table, and whilst we partake of His feasts, we are lovingly watched over by the Holiest of Holies. A supreme sacrifice has been made for our presence at this table on which our sustenance and salvation have been laid; our very presence at the banquet is a holy blessing, a gift from God in whose image we are made. So it is fitting and right that we spend every day and each meal in awe and wonder and praise of our Savior, Jesus. All our days are wondrous new invitations to grow into the fullness of our potential, and the privilege to do so was paid for by the Messiah’s immeasurable agony. Christ is Risen! Praise be to God! Happy Easter!

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. ~John 1:1-5 ✝

**Images via Pinterest, collage by Natalie

692. Could life so end, half told; its school so fail? Soul, soul, there is a sequel to thy tale! ~Robert Mowry Bell

April 4, 2015 by nataliescarberry

See the land, her Easter keeping,
Rises as her Maker rose.
Seeds, so long in darkness sleeping,
Burst at last from winter snows.
Earth with heaven above rejoices…
~Charles Kingsley

These realities, of which Kingsley speaks, are meant to stir in humanity an ancient sense of belonging and in turn spark a desire to seek Yahweh, the Ancient of Days, but should they not, finding God in Christ is something even the blind can do. Our Creator sent us His son over 2000 years ago to be our memory and remind us of who we are and to whom we belong. Jesus is a revelation of our loving Father, of His amazing Grace, and of His Kingdom’s intention. And as the Messiah, Christ offers mortals, all of whom are subjected to detrimental temptation by malevolent forces in a fallen world, salvation, and then He, as their spiritual leader, directs those, who accept His offer, into righteous rhythms of life, into a willingness to serve others, and into the dance of life–a dance in which the whole universe can be seen as a partner.

“Easter is not a time for groping through dusty, musty tomes or tombs to disprove spontaneous generation or even to prove life eternal. It is a day to fan the ashes of dead hope, a day to banish doubts and seek the slopes where the sun is rising, to revel in the faith which transports us out of ourselves and the dead past into the vast and inviting unknown.” ~Author unknown, as quoted in the Lewiston Tribune

…fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before Him He endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. ~Hebrews 12:2 ✝

**Images via Pinterest, collage by Natalie

691. Unto the Cross came death, and unto death came the Cross. ~Anthony Liccione

April 3, 2015 by nataliescarberry

Our Father. We have killed Him, and we will kill Him again, and our world will kill Him. And yet He is there. It is He who listens at the door. It is He who is coming. It is our Father who is about to be born through Jesus Christ our Lord.” ~Frederick Buechner

For God so loved the world, that He gave His one and only Son, that whosoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life. ~John 3:16 ✝

**Images via Pinterest, collage created by Natalie

Sacred Touches

Life is a time of purpose and anointed blossoming…

Tag Archives: God