...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
I must consume the abundance of moments now. Days I am overwhelmed, wanting to write the music of my life in a slower tempo … yet this is the glorious dance of now.
So I shall dance in bare feet. For I am on holy ground.
~Ann Voskamp "A Holy Experience"
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
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
Love isn’t a function of communication so much as Love is a function of communion.
~ Ann Voskamp
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
Great post! Beautiful quote and photos!
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I had to laugh when I realized I first read your post title as the Angels of Winter. I guess I’m not one of the millions. I don’t read the headlines everyday. I do appreciate your posts and photo’s evrryday! Thanks so much Emily.
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Spoken like the prophet that you are, dear Emily.
If ever there were a clarion call for ALL people of ALL faith beliefs (or none) to unite in solidarity to stem the current onslaught of pure madness, It is NOW! We have acquiesced for decades too long in allowing this unmitigated evil to continue unnamed, unabated, unchallenged in our nation and in our world.
Heinous, savage crimes against our Creator- God and humanity are being committed on a massive scale, in uncounted numbers, against our brothers and sisters in our own nation and in nearly every nation on earth in the name of the American people. We do this by allowing our tax dollars to be used (manipulated), in many instances cleverly hidden, to purchase and to sell armaments and other means of mass suffering and destruction. We force our uninvited military and frightening weapons’ presence on other nations, disrupting their culture, their economy, interfering with their self determination. We call this unwanted invasion ‘nation building,’ We are governed by an oligarchy of super wealthy, self-serving, greedy people who buy their way into power, totally and cleverly by-passing our Constitutional and subsequent legislative protections.. Our entire foreign policy is planned and implemented by a cadre of powerful amoral persons whose allegiance is to no one but themselves and their selfish interests, resulting in hegemony and eventual world domination.
I have in my mind now a picture of the ancient prophets of Israel and Judea raising their open palms to Yahweh (perhaps, at times, in utter frustration, even shaking their fists?) pleading for His intervention to intercede to bring the people back to their Covenant relationship with Him. For Christian believers, it was the teaching and the love of the Incarnate God, Jesus, who showed us what our priorities must be as we accept responsibility and care for each other in our earthly journeys. For those who claim no specific faith, the Creator of all placed within each of us an innate sense of right and wrong to guide us in making ‘right’ moral choices. Some call that ‘presence’ ‘soul;’ some call it ‘conscience,’ Others cannot name it but, even in the worst of times, they sense it — within their deepest being.
That Presence is what we must call upon now to enable us with the desire and the courage to strip away the escalating evils of greed and the intolerant hatred of the ‘other’ that have divided us and all humanity for far too long and, in so doing, place us on the path back to the Creator of ALL life who gifts us with love, peace, purpose. .
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i am sorry that politics has entered your blog. there were no good choices this time around, except in the primaries. i am in the world, but not of the world, and i am keeping my focus on Him. your photography and words have blessed me. but the political drivel here has become a poison, like judas. i choose to focus on living out my faith, not politics.
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Your Philippians 4:8,9 quote here in the sidebar! I’m feeling a lot the same as Marylou about the political thoughts. I guess that’s one of the disadvantages of living in a “democracy”–the NT writers didn’t rail about the political situations in which they found themselves–they had no choice in the matter at all, so they HAD to trust the Lord. We do, too, even though we supposedly get to choose our leaders. The only thing is, I would hesitate to call what has been written here as drivel, since the words represent genuinely held beliefs, and we’re all entitled to those. But I much prefer enjoying the awesome photography and inspiring quotes, which keep our hearts and spirits centered on Him who, “for the joy set before Him endured the cross…” He empowers us to endure ours too, and there IS joy set before us! We just need to ask ourselves–and Him–“How should WE then live”.
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Such beautiful images day after day! Thank you so much! They help ease the anxiety we are suffering. Diann, Dagsboro, DE >
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