…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 
Your photographs are stunning. ♥
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Such a wonderful reminder with such beauty to illustrate and reinforce it!
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My common sense and faith in Jesus’ words and actions — plus what you offer here are correct, helpful, dear Emily and practically all that we seem to be able to do for the time being as long as this madness continues.
I just cannot bring myself to sit by and shut it out of any sensibility. I no longer read six worldwide papers on my computer each day.
My brain and my gut revolt at the horror of it all. I am thinking terrible things about how the culprits in our leadership – particularly those criminals in the W.H., Administration, Congress et al.
Than, Jesus’ sustaining Presence in my Soul raps me in the head, stretches my heart wider, and reminds me of the promises that He made re (what we now call) the ‘end times,’ His return, The New Jerusalem, etc.
I back off then and silently seek the Spirit;s comfort and Wisdom to get me through the angst and horror as I see what terrible, terrible human misery and suffering are there for us to see each new day. Jesus’ consoling — and definitely righteous promises do help and I do put my trust in Him and share that with my family and friends — and, often with complete strangers whom I meet in the marketplace the few times when I venture out, complete with mask, gloves and walker.
I share with those who say that they are unfamiliar with Jesus’ specific words to his disciples and faithful followers re ‘evil,’ and human suffering caused by those who turn a deaf ear and a closed off soul barricaded by lust for power and wealth. I refer to, of course, the righteousness that will be dealt those who are responsible for so much human suffering upon the innocents: separation of sheep and goats, wheat from chaff (burned), et al.
We need to storm heaven with unending prayer and believe that He truly does see and hear us…He is waiting – in His own
time. We need to go outside ourselves at each opportunity to reach out to the overwhelming suffering that we see
and that greets us in unfailing constancy where ever we are in our daily lives.
I am spiritually and gratefully thankful and healed by the beauty and compassion and deep faith that I read in Emily’s daily postings here and in the many ‘Comments’ offered by her subscribers.
We are spaced around the world. But, in realty, we are an army. WE ARE ONE IN HIM.
And we have been given some practical advice from Paul in his Letter to the Ephesians ‘Battle against Evil, 6: 10-17:
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each and every one of your posts are so rich with beauty and meaning! thank-you!!
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As always, dear Alice, you are able to get to the crux-the real Cross-of the matter so much better than I. May I always find your fervor alive in the “nows” of each day forever. Love from Emily
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