…whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. … And the God of peace will be with you. Philippians 4: 8 -9
What is my only comfort in life and in death? That I am not my own, but belong—body and soul, in life and in death—to my faithful Savior, Jesus Christ.
~Heidelberg Catechism
Instructions for living a life:
Pay attention.
Be astonished.
Tell about it.
~Mary Oliver
To do the useful thing, to say the courageous thing, to contemplate the beautiful thing: that is enough for one man’s life.
~ T.S. Eliot
A man should hear a little music, read a little poetry, and see a fine picture every day of his life, in order that worldly cares may not obliterate the sense of the beautiful which God has implanted in the human soul.
~Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
To live is so startling, it leaves little room for other occupations.
~Emily Dickinson
I believe in God as I believe that the Sun has risen, not only because I see it, but because by it I see everything else.
~ C. S. Lewis
Remember this. When people choose to withdraw far from a fire, the fire continues to give warmth, but they grow cold. When people choose to withdraw far from light, the light continues to be bright in itself but they are in darkness. This is also the case when people withdraw from God.
~ Augustine
Hello, sun in my face. Hello you who made the morning and spread it over the fields…Watch, now, how I start the day in happiness, in kindness.
~ Mary Oliver
The seed is in the ground. Now may we rest in hope while darkness does its work.
~ Wendell Berry
Nothing will sustain you more potently than the power to recognize in your humdrum routine the true poetry of life.~ Sir William Osler
But the effect of her being on those around her was incalculably diffusive: for the growing good of the world is partly dependent on unhistoric acts, and that things are not so ill with you and me as they might have been, is half owing to the number who lived faithfully a hidden life, and rest in unvisited tombs.
~George Eliot’s final sentence in Middlemarch
If the world were merely seductive, that would be easy. If it were merely challenging, that would be no problem. But I arise in the morning torn between a desire to improve the world and a desire to enjoy the world. This makes it hard to plan the day.
~ E.B. White
Geese appear high over us, pass, and the sky closes. Abandon, as in love or sleep, holds them to their way, clear, in the ancient faith: what we need is here. And we pray, not for new earth or heaven, but to be quiet in heart, and in eye clear. What we need is here.~~ “The Wild Geese” Wendell Berry
Let it come, as it will, and don’t be afraid. God does not leave us comfortless, so let evening come.
~ Jane Kenyon from “Let Evening Come”
You can only come to the morning through the shadows.~ J.R.R. Tolkien
Look for what you notice but no one else sees. ~Rick Rubin
If you want to identify me, ask me not where I live, or what I like to eat, or how I comb my hair, but ask me what I am living for, in detail, ask me what I think is keeping me from living fully for the thing I want to live for. ~ Thomas Merton
This life therefore is not righteousness,
but growth in righteousness,
not health but healing,
not being but becoming,
not rest but exercise.
We are not yet
what we shall be,
but we are growing toward it.
The process is not finished
but it is going on.
This is not the end
but it is the road.
~Martin Luther
Ten times a day something happens to me like this – some strengthening throb of amazement – some good sweet empathic ping and swell. This is the first, the wildest and the wisest thing I know: that the soul exists and is built entirely out of attentiveness.
~ Mary Oliver
It is not your love that sustains the marriage —
but from now on, the marriage that sustains your love.
~ Dietrich Bonhoeffer
She has done what she could…
~Mark 14:8
What do you mean? Do you wish me a good morning, or mean that it is a good morning whether I want it or not; or that you feel good on this morning; or that it is a morning to be good on?~ J. R. R. Tolkien from The Hobbit
Barnstorming 
and i was just nine. i remember it very well. relatives who lived in a trailer came to stay with us. we lost all but one section of our fence. dad pulled out the camp stove, we had a fire going all the time, as well as two oil lamps and every candle we had. we made s’mores in the big fire place, and i remember hearing the water run in the ducts below the house when we went to bed, wearing our hooded sweatshirts and using all the extra blankets we had. we played cards and read books during the day. it was a time of bonding. glad you didn’t get the worst of it this week! we had bursts of wind, but nothing sustained. lots of rain on and off, but that is normal for the southern willamette valley.
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and aren’t we thankful!
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….I was 12 at the time. We lived on a small farm in McMinnville. I remember walking home from a school dance with a neighbor boy. The winds were high and we’d laugh as I got lifted off the road holding onto my umbrella …like Mary Poppins, toes barely touching the ground. Gary said he’d walk me home. We passed his house and continued to the creek crossing…not thinking much of the wind blowing through the trees. It wasn’t until the we headed down the draw and a couple tall pines fell down ahead, blocking our path that we realized we’d better get back to Gary’s house. His mom called mine by calling a phone chain…getting word to my mother that I was safe and could spend the night at their house. Curling up on the sofa, candles for light, a stack of comic books to look through (which we never had) I felt very safe and secure. As I could hear massive trees toppling and feel the hose move, I started watching out the front window. The huge pine in their front yard would rise, reaching and straining , the ground lifting….then it would sink back to normal. And I was amazed at God’s power.
Funny, I don’t remember much in the following days. Just that night, trees uprooted across the street where I stayed…but not on the houses. And mostly the walk down the draw where the tree looked like toothpicks ripped out of the ground. Some of the metal roofing on our barn was ripped off.(
My brother is presently living in Tillamook and he texted me about the tomato warning he received. He reminded me of the 62 storm. He was safe with his trailer house although he was prepared to move to higher ground if the water rose. And the tornado touched down farther north I think….spared him and Tillamook.
Thanks for letting me share.
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wow, Laura, those are harrowing memories! and the tornado was amazing to see on video!
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Dear Emily, I never thought of the experience being harroring, I would say I was more in awe. I did ask my older sister and younger brother what they remember of that storm. Sister was 14 and she said she doesn’t really remember it. My brother was 9, and he said he could just remember I was missing in action. I’m going to ask my 90 year old mother about her memories of that storm this evening.
My older sister can’t believe she doesn’t remember anything about it. I told her I think we filtered so much out of our memory banks because of all the moving we did growing up. Maybe she just felt secure. Brother did say the pines in our front yard stood, 2 of the walnut trees were uprooted in the back.
Thanks for your special blog Emily. I enjoy it so much.
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It was awesome too, Laura. So interesting your sister didn’t remember it. Sure is deeply etched in my memory! Emily
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