• leaves,  quotes

    Holy Leaves

    It is in the darkest nights of our souls, when all we know is that we know nothing, that the presence of the sacred may quietly well up, mingling with our pain and connecting us to a love that will never die.

    Mirabai Starr

    There is something enjoyable about walking among trees while they drop their leaves on me and around me, whether in a local park, a natural area or my neighborhood. Next time you experience that just close your eyes, allow the trees to bless you with their holy leaves. It may be an opportunity to experience the presence of the sacred. More photos of leaves to come.

  • natural areas,  quotes,  sunrises

    Beautiful Fall Day

    “I longed for church to be a place where Mystery is experienced, not explained.”

    Victoria Loorz

    It was 33 degrees as I scrapped frost off my windshield this morning. I bundled up and with a pour-over coffee in hand I headed to watch the sunrise at Pineridge Natural Area. Nary a cloud to be seen and the whole day has been like that. What a wonderful church I attend!

    Gathered with friends today at noon, which is always a good thing. Then met up with friends this afternoon who are in town for a visit. Good conversation, sharing our experiences and food. Yes, it’s been a beautiful fall day. Hope you enjoyed your weekend and have a wonderful week! 😊

  • shadows,  Software

    Here we go again…

    Solar eclipse shadows outside my condo.

    Well here’s another theme made by the same developer, Optima, called Savona. It has a few of the things that I could not get to work on the Graceful theme. It very much looks like Graceful and my older theme. It is clean and uses more of the screen. It also defaults to a white background, which I want.

    My primary concern for this website is simplicity so I’ve decided to eliminate the featured image as it does not have the lightbox function. I do not see where that can be added except through code and I’m not going there. 

    The only way I can get an image on the blog post page is with full content instead of excerpt. When I choose an excerpt it displays 50 characters of the post but not an image. With full context on this allows the image to be on the blog post page and the full article to be read. This way my millions of readers can read my content without going to the continue reading link. This is true on both these themes. I have also enlarged the image just a bit.

    This theme also shows the number of comments on the blog post page, which Graceful did not show. Anyway, here is another theme and hoping you will see what I don’t and let me know. Hope you had a good Saturday.

  • coffee life,  quotes

    Hannah’s Mocha

    “If you want to discover the true meaning of Zen in your everyday life, you have to understand the meaning of keeping your mind on your breathing and your body in the right posture in zazen.”

    Shunryu Suzuki

    One thing that will encourage me to return to a coffee shop, restaurant, or any business is when I’m greeted by my name. I feel welcomed and welcome back. I appreciate it when someone remembers my name, even though I may not remember theirs. It can lift my spirit. I patronize certain coffee shops more than others primarily for that reason. There are other reasons such as coffee and ambiance but the greeting is essential for me. It’s not that I’m someone special but that I’m here and they acknowledged my presence. That greeting allows for a connection. Anyway Hannah greeted me by my name and made a wonderful mocha latte.

    I’m trying one other thing here on this theme. I am posting a feature image rather than inserting an image into the post. So the image is larger than I normally post. It also does not have the lightbox function with the image. Gonna see how that works. Please let me know what you like and don’t like about it.

    It’s been a windy day and cold but blue skies and sunshine. Stay warm and enjoy your weekend.

  • quotes,  reflections,  sunrises

    Reflections

    “We must, however, reflect on what is happening. It is an urgent matter, especially for those of us who still live in a meaningful, even a numinous, earth community. We have not spoken. Nor even have we seen clearly what is happening. The issue goes far beyond economics, or commerce, or poetics, or an evening of pleasantries as we look out over a scenic view. Something is happening beyond all this. We are losing splendid and intimate modes of divine presence. We are, perhaps, losing ourselves.” 

    Thomas Berry

    As I began to write this post I became aware of how often I talk about going to the natural areas and the spiritual impact they have on me, as if nature is some distant place I must travel to. The reality is I live in nature, it is all around me, our city is built within nature. I too often fail to remember I live in nature, because I can easily get lost in the chaos of the city, overwhelmed by the buildings and noise we create. My thinking, and in many ways society, suggests we are to look elsewhere for those intimate modes of divine presence of nature. This shows a thinking of society’s separation from nature. I feel sadness, as well as anger, knowing that we are taking places of natural beauty, even if that’s a farmer’s land, and making it into a housing development, shopping mall or warehouse. We change the natural area into concrete, asphalt jungle that has almost no resemblance to its previous existence. I see where we are losing splendid and intimate modes of divine presence to the hands of investors for their financial gain rather than setting aside a farmer’s land as a natural sanctuary. I pray we, which also includes me, can change this way of thinking and believing. End of rant. Clouds have moved in and the wind has picked up as we await rain.

  • reflections,  sunrises

    A beautiful start to this day

    The day began with quiet time at home then a visit to Pineridge Natural Area to receive the gift we are offered. The sky was filled with ever changing clouds and colors. A gentle wind created small ripples across the waters surface. A quiet stillness surrounded me. These sacred moments are vital to my spiritual journey and a beautiful start to this day. I’m now at a coffee shop, surrounded with rather loud conversations and all the noise that comes with this lifestyle. I consider myself an introvert if we define it as someone who enjoys spending time with just one or two people, rather than large groups or crowds. Too much external stimulation can cause me to feel uncomfortable. I will meet Mark later for coffee and conversation then back home to the quiet. Anyway, what a beautiful start to this day. I’m looking forward to the forecast for rain later this afternoon. 😊 May you have a wonderful day!!

  • coffee life,  quotes

    It’s a Lifestyle

    “… spirituality is not a thing or a feeling. Spirituality is paying attention. Spirituality is being present to what is happening around and within you. Spirituality is living in the world with compassion and justice. Spirituality is making the world a little better for your having been born into it. Spirituality is meeting God in the ordinariness of our everyday lives.”

    Reb Yerachmiel

    Third morning in a row where I needed to scrape light frost off my windshield. Yep, fall is here. Made my way to Mugs for a mocha latte and was greeted with a big smile from my barista, Jess. Morning was a success. Had my monthly lunch with high school classmates today. Another success.

    Seems to me spirituality isn’t anything I can define or physically touch but something I experience. I just read where Spirituality is a lifestyle. I sorta like that. It has no connection to any religious faith and doesn’t define it. Spirituality just is, something we live. The quote above is more about sharing the experience. I find it is much like the coffee life. Life needs to be experienced not defined.

    I was reading an older blog post on someone’s perspective to beginning a blog, offering our views, where that might lead and the stories written and read in these blogs. I found it interesting, quite profound and wanted to share it with you. You can find it here.