…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
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 
One of my favorite lines is in Elisabeth Elliot’s book, ‘A Path Through Suffering’… she wrote “pruning increases yield”. Very wise and comforting words.
LikeLiked by 2 people
‘Survival’ among the human species and within nature is most certainly a mystery. There are so many forces at work within each process – those seen and those unseen. The final outcome, then, must be left to our omniscient, compassionate Creator-God.
LikeLiked by 2 people
the pruning hook didn’t wait until spring for me. 1-1-19 I fell. I’ve had a cast and have had to do all things with my non-dominant hand. personal hygiene and other chores have been a challenge. Christmas eve I had an appointment for a follow-up mammogram. the results call for further treatment. with little sleep and the challenge of continuing to care for my father and all the other unknowns to follow, I have felt emotionally spent and rather pruned. many of my normal life routines have been removed from my space for this season of life.
in 2017, the manna from god helped me get through the selling of the family farm. somehow, I haven’t been finding the manna for this time. I know I need to keep trusting and searching and be grateful for life as it is.
LikeLiked by 3 people
I will be in prayer for you. I broke my dominant right hand in 2012 while caring for my elderly mom with a broken hip….boy I was shocked how hard things were but after about two weeks I adjusted enough to get by. Brushing teeth was weird, I kept hitting my teeth with the back side of the brush instead of the bristles. May God give you intuitiveness and all the help He can send from friends and neighbors. May your dad stay stable and may his insurance/Medicare send help if possible. May he himself be considerate of your situation. May everyone in your sphere be helpful and understanding. May all your treatment be swift, smooth and successful. Please update on here if you can (type, lol – that’s hard too!). I hate to be out of my routine too. One good thing that came from this is that I am almost ambidextrous now! May God bless, strengthen equip and restore you dear lady.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Rebecca and I were talking about “neural networks” of the barren branches…a lot going on inside…
LikeLiked by 1 person
Linda, May your heart be eased of worry at this vulnerable time of pain and inconvenience and unknown trials to come. It is a time of testing and pruning that seems too severe yet you are here expressing faith and trust and hope for a better time to come. Bless you now in your weakness and may it give you great strength. Emily
LikeLike
Linda, I felt a need to add to the soothing balm that Emily has added so kindly to your comment.
For a time, you are once again being asked to divert from your life’s path and face a new kind of reality – as if you were suddenly walking down a darkened hallway – or a long tunnel where you are suddenly exposed to deep uncertainty and a sense of things piling up and you are perhaps saying to yourself ,’Oh, Lord, please help me, I don’t think that I can handle all of this now. I feel alone at times, and yet, I know that my faith and trust in you, my love for Your Word and your Promises are with me now and will see me through this unsettling time. I pray, Lord, that you will walk beside me every moment and that you will not leave me. Please, Lord, I so need your assurance. In your Mercy, let me feel your Presence….’
You will find, Linda, that you will see with new eyes and feel with a newly-sensitive compassionate heart within that Presence that will allow you to reach out to others to help them through their difficult times. Your present trials may be His gift of a, saving grace that will imbue you with a wonderful desire to share that Grace with others in their time of pain and darkness. Perhaps that is the true meaning of God’s pruning hook….– to clear out the old and to bring new life to the soul….
aliceny
LikeLike