Quiet for the Weekend: July 6-8, 2012

July 8, 2012 By
“My beloved spoke and said to me,
    ‘Arise, my darling, my beautiful one, 
come with me. 
 See! The winter is past;  
the rains are over and gone. 
 Flowers appear on the earth;  
the season of singing has come,
the cooing of doves is heard in our land. 
 The fig tree forms its early fruit;  
the blossoming vines spread their fragrance.
Arise, come, my darling;  
my beautiful one, come with me.’”
Song of Solomon 2:10-14 (NLT)
It’s summer!
 The flowers are popping,
 the fruit is ripening,
 the fountains are flowing,
 the outside lights are hung in celebration.
 Even the old, tired fence looks happy to see
the sun, the warm air and the pinks and purples of summer blooms.
 And the shyest of our feathered friends peeked out from behind the leaves – even though I did have to shoot through the screen to capture her.
May your weekend be full of light and laughter,
time with family or friends,
and time to sit alone in the afternoon breeze.
God is good, all the time.
But somehow, on a fair summer’s day,
God seems even good-er than usual.
Joining up with Michelle, Sandy and Deidra for their invitations to celebrate
the weekends with a small space of quiet and color. 
 
 
Filed Under: biblical reflection, God's gifts, photography, Quiet for the Weekend

Quiet for the Weekend-June 23/24, 2012

June 23, 2012 By
“For now we see only a reflection 
as in a mirror; 
then we shall see face to face. 
Now I know in part; 
then I shall know fully, 
even as I am fully known.” 

1 Corinthians 13:12 

“Maybe the only thing each of us can see is our own shadow.
Carl Jung called this his shadow work. 
He said we never see others. 
Instead we see only aspects of ourselves that fall over them. 
Shadows. Projections. Our associations.
The same way old painters would sit in a tiny dark room 
and trace the image of what stood outside a tiny window, 
in the bright sunlight.
The camera obscura.
Not the exact image, 
but everything reversed or upside down.”
– Chuck Palahniuk

“You can only come to the morning through the shadows.”
– J.R.R. Tolkien
May your weekend be rich
with intimations of heaven,
dear friends,
that place where we will see
each other and ourselves
and our Good God
in truth and beauty.
Joining up with Sandra and Deidra as we all take time to be
a little less busy,
a little more attentive,
a little more centered.
 
Filed Under: biblical reflection, photography, Quiet for the Weekend

Quiet for the Weekend – June 16/17, 2012

June 16, 2012 By

“Listen, O Israel! 
The Lord is our God, the Lord alone.  
And you must love the Lord your God 
with all your heart, 
all your soul, 
and all your strength.  
And you must commit yourselves 
wholeheartedly to 
these commands that I am giving you today.   
Repeat them again and again to your children. 
Talk about them when you are at home 
and when you are on the road, 
when you are going to bed 
and when you are getting up.  
Tie them to your hands 
and wear them on your forehead 
as reminders.   
Write them on the doorposts of your house 
and on your gates.”
Deuteronomy 6:4-9, The New Living Translation
 Wooden gates and doors from Our Lady of Mount Carmel Catholic Church,
where the Kindergarden Commencement for our granddaughter Grace 
was held on Thursday morning of this week.
This church is four driveways from our home.
I have been inside a few times, but never wandered the grounds with camera in hand.
It is an old mission style church, built for the families of the soldiers in the presidio when Father Serra 
built the mission trail in California in the late 18th century.
It is gloriously beautiful and someday I’ll do an entire photo essay about it.
But these gates and doors spoke to me this week.
Perhaps the scripture above and the one below are part of why they did.

  “Yes, I am the gate. 
Those who come in through me will be saved. 
They will come and go freely 
and will find good pastures.  
The thief’s purpose 
is to steal and kill and destroy.  
My purpose is 
to give them a rich and satisfying life.”
John 10:9-10, The New Living Translation
And surely one of the sweetest gifts of a rich and satisfying life
is a purple hydrangea still glistening with morning dew.
This one was located next to the doors shown above.

May your weekend bring reminders of the rich and satisfying life of Jesus, the gate.
Linking this with my friends Sandy and Deidra at their quiet gathering spaces for our weekend reveries.
 
Filed Under: photography, Quiet for the Weekend, Wonderings in the Word

Quiet Time, Nourishing Time

April 14, 2012 By
“Look around you: 
Winter is over; 
the winter rains are over, gone! 
Spring flowers are in blossom all over. 
The whole world’s a choir—and singing! 
Spring warblers are filling the forest with sweet arpeggios. 
Lilacs are exuberantly purple and perfumed, 
and cherry trees fragrant with blossoms. 
Oh, get up, dear friend, 
my fair and beautiful lover—come to me! 
Come, my shy and modest dove— 
leave your seclusion, come out in the open. 
Let me see your face, let me hear your voice. 
For your voice is soothing and your face is ravishing.”
Song of Solomon 2:9-11, The Message

May you find blossoms 
wherever your feet may take you this weekend.
Songbirds, too.
And may you enjoy the surprising and welcome presence 
of dear friends, 
(whether or not they are also your spouse),
those who nourish you by their very presence,
whose voices soothe,
whose faces remind you of God’s amazing love for you. 
Enjoying the colors and sounds of spring on the west coast this weekend, despite frequent visits from spring (as opposed to winter!) rains. Joining with my good friends Sandy King and Deidra Riggs for their weekly invitation to change up the pace, slow things down and quietly center in God’s good gifts.
 
Filed Under: photography, Quiet for the Weekend, Sunday Reflections

Stepping Quietly into Holy Week

April 1, 2012 By
“Listen, Heavens, 
I have something to tell you. 
Attention, Earth, 
I’ve got a mouth full of words. 
My teaching, let it fall like a gentle rain,
      my words arrive like morning dew,
   Like a sprinkling rain on new grass,
      like spring showers on the garden.
   For it’s God‘s Name I’m preaching—
      respond to the greatness of our God!
   The Rock: His works are perfect,
      and the way he works is fair and just;
   A God you can depend upon, no exceptions,
      a straight-arrow God.
   His messed-up, mixed-up children,
his non-children,
      throw mud at him but none of it sticks.”
Deuteronomy 32:1-5, The Message
As we step into April, as we step into Holy Week,
 may we respond to the greatness of our God 
like the earth responds to a gentle rain.
Like spring showers on the garden,
 may we receive the Word of hope and life.

Joining with dear friends, Sandy and Deidra at their kind invitation 
to center and quiet ourselves for worship and reflection each weekend.






  

Filed Under: biblical reflection, photography, Sunday Reflections

Quiet for the Weekend

March 25, 2012 By
“You are to shine among them like
lights in the world,
clinging to the word of life.”
Philippians 2:15b – The Kingdom New Testament, 
a contemporary translation by N.T. Wright
Firefly lights are the most efficient lights in the world— 
100% of the energy is emitted as light. 
I’d say that’s a worthy goal.
To live like a firefly.
Blessed weekend to you, friends.
Joining with Sandy King and Deidra Riggs and Katie Lloyd for their weekly invitations to be quiet, to find a photo that illustrates a biblical truth and to share it with the community.
   



Filed Under: biblical reflection, photography

Standing on Tiptoe

March 4, 2012 By

“In my opinion whatever we may have to go through now is less than nothing compared with the magnificent future God has planned for us. 
The whole creation is on tiptoe 
to see the wonderful sight 
of the [children] of God coming into their own.”
Romans 8:18 – JB Phillips paraphrase
“Learning sleeps and snores in libraries, 
but wisdom is everywhere, wide awake, on tiptoe.”
-Josh Billings

 
1. Camano Island, WA – while on retreat with 4 other women pastors, 2007
2. Our youngest granddaughter on her 2nd birthday, scampering across the park to the slide.
3. My own feet as I sat in the car, ‘looking long’ at the ocean. This sitting still thing is becoming a habit, 
hopefully one that leads to increased wisdom. :>)
Joining tonight with Sandy at “Still Saturday” and Deidra at “Sunday,”
two weekly invitations to encourage quieting our words
and reflecting on God’s beauty revealed in this world and our lives.
Filed Under: biblical reflection, photography
« Previous Page