…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 
You just drove that imaginary hammer and nail directly into my soul, Emily.
And my whole being has been affected.
In all of the mostly deep erudite theological accounts that I have read through the years (and tried to understand) about
the ‘forever’ saving act of Jesus’ voluntary, savage Crucifixion, I have never, ever read or heard anything
similar to your stunning , easily understood, Spirit-filled interpretation in today’s post. It confirms what I have come to believe in recent years
of constant ‘searching’ about the core of our gift of faith.—-
that the more we clear, unclutter, our innate being (soul ?) and prepare to receive the total reality and intent of Jesus’ Message and
the terrible price that He was to pay to teach that Message, and the implications and necessity for it in that time, in that place, we begin to ‘get it.’
The ‘ Innocent Lamb,’ the ‘Son of God,’ the long-awaited Jewish ‘Messiah,’
voluntarily, and through a determined loving sacrificial death, was scourged, NAILED naked, bleeding to a tree,
using a hammer and nails to affix his ravaged Body, assuring a longer sustained pain-filled death!
We must follow through then to try to understand, to assimilate, within our finite human capability, the ‘WHY’ of what He did.
And the ‘WHOM’ for which Jesus’ sacrifice was so necessary.
The answers may vary from person to person within the depths of their faith and intellectual/spiritual grasp. Not crucial. The point is:
the Search has begun, More questions and deepening faith will follow. The seeds have been planted. We will never be the same. We will
become infectious with the necessity to share with others.
Our quest is vital in order for us to permanently establish a loving, intimate relationship with and trust in this gift to humanity – this babe of Bethlehem,
this innocent Jesus of Nazareth, this “Christ, ‘as He was later to be known.
The ‘search’ can be frustrating at times, often hampered by many earthly interruptions and cooling of interest. The Holy Spirit,
Guide, Counselor,Teacher is always there – waiting to help. It is with prayer and consistent intent
to find ‘answers’ that we will succeed. Once we ‘meet’ Him viscerally, intimately, we will be at peace. All of our questions will not be
answered immediately — not completely. That will occur when we enter His Kingdom and meet Him face to face.
We can begin to accept and understand the ‘great Mystery of it all now, here in our every day lives..
Because we have found the ‘font,’ and ‘answer.’ to our questions and assurances that something, someone so needed in our lives, in our world, does,
indeed exist. We will have found our ‘anchor,’ our ‘raison d’etre (reason for being).
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Thank you, dear friend.
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Dear Emily, My sister (my only sibling) who lived in Idaho took many photos, and one of her iconic ones was the same angle shot of the same old schoolhouse in Montana, taken on a bike camping trip many years ago. Her name was Sharon and she died 9 years ago at age 60 of breast cancer. I miss her. Her photographs are very similar to yours, beautiful nature pictures of the Northwest. Thanks for your daily dose of Sharon for me. Susan
> On Jan 8, 2021, at 9:38 AM, Barnstorming wro > >
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My goodness! She had to go way off the beaten track on her bike to find that old schoolhouse in the middle of desolate land. What an adventurer and what a loss for you and your family. I’m glad I could inspire her memory.
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